What Once Was Is Again
by Mrs-Hyde
Summary: Days go by and Ryou is missing. It's up to the gang to find him. Does Bakura have anything to do with it?......of course it's Bakura.
1. Default Chapter

What Once Was is Again  
  
Diclaimer: I do not own any of the characters within Yugioh, minus Strawberry (who you will find out about in my fic). Said characters are also OOC. So live with it it's the way I write! Hehehe.  
  
Warning: there have been minor to extreme changes within the characters of Yugioh, but it is all interesting changes no less and makes for interesting reading I must say.  
  
It was a gorgeous morning; the sun was shining brightly, warming up the skin at its light touch. Birds flew, getting ready for the up coming winter, heading south more often, as the weather grew colder. Yugi sat on the couch looking out the window at the site. He sighed. What a lovely morning he thought. He smiled at the thought but it faded slowly. He had no one to share it with other then his yami, who happened to be sleeping at the moment. He turned his head, hair shifting lightly, to look at the snoozing yami. Of course the only reason his yami was sleeping was because of his sunspot. That's how he put it anyway. Yugi shook his head trying to suppress some fit of giggles that were about to burst at the sight. His yami was lying on the floor in a moon shaped position on his side, arms out stretched and his legs bent at a 90-degree angle, his chest rising slowly and comforting under the spell the sun casted over him. If Yugi listened closely he could hear small, quiet snores coming from his darker half. "Yami you can be a pain sometimes." Yugi giggled at the slight moan that escaped his yami's lips. Yugi bent over and slipped his finger under his yami's nose and pushed up genteelly. This made his yami smile. Yugi did this all the time to calm his yami's nerves when he was angry. It always made his yami melt away. In fact it was the same way for the rest of the yamis. And with that trick comes a downer. If you flicked the yamis in the nose that got them really pissed. Yugi got up of the couch, crossed over to the kitchen with a light pad on the floor. When he entered, he walked over to the cupboard that contained the plates that went under the teacups. He pulled out two and placed them buy the microwave. He looked back in the direction were Yami was sleeping. Yugi was determined to have someone to do something with. He would do anything other than sit there in silence. It was unnerving. And Yami was going to be that someone. No way could Yugi let his yami sleep and ignore him like that. Sure it might be considered selfish but Yugi was so bored. "Soon Yami will be up and running around in no time, Yugi stated to himself, all he needs is a jump start." Yugi rushed out of the kitchen, almost slipping in his excitement on the wood floor. He ran down the stairs to the basement cellar, stopping at their freezer. He pulled a stool up beside it so he could reach inside and pull out what he wanted. His Grandpa gave it to him because of his short legs. For his age he was abnormally small making him look like a ten year old. And his face didn't help one bit. It was so childlike and innocent. His big lavender eyes would make the hardest heart turn soft, just the way he looked at you. Yugi pulled out a bag full of cinnamon rolls that he had made a couple of days ago. His yami adored cinnamon rolls and the smell of cinnamon drove him nuts. Whenever Yugi had the smell of cinnamon, just the slightest scent, Yami was all over him. And Yugi would use this to his advantage. That was Yugi's weapon. Yugi re-entered the kitchen and pulled out two rolls. He put them on two plates and popped them in to the microwave for a minute. Yugi took out a container that held cinnamon in it to sprinkle some on Yami's roll. He popped open the lid and let the aroma flow into the living room. Yami's nose caught a whiff of the scent, twitching like a rabbits he sniffed. His eyes opened up immediately revealing two ruby red orbs. He lifted up his head and snapped it towards the kitchen. He crawled on to his feet and bounded on to the couch silently. He peered into the kitchen and spotted Yugi at the counter, his back blocking the view. He roved his eyes over the kitchen until they landed on the microwave. His eyes went bright and a wide smirk spread across his face. He slinked off the back of the couch and landed with a light thud. Yugi heard the light sound resonate through the kitchen. A meek smile spread across his face. A beep sounded off in his ear. He flicked his head towards the microwave, his hair shifting lightly like a cloud crossing the sky. Yugi opened the door and pulled out the rolls. A faint smell lifted off them and Yugi was sure his yami could smell the delicious scent. He grabbed the cinnamon box that sat on the left of him and sprinkled some on the left roll, covering the top just enough to give it a little buzz for his yami. Yugi glanced around the kitchen. Where is he thought Yugi, his face showing complete puzzlement. Yugi shrugged it off as just being lazy. He turned around to face the rolls but instead he got a face full of his yami. He jumped at the surprised sneak but started laughing at the sight. Yami sat on the counter with his legs crossed, chewing the roll absentmindedly. His cheeks had a slight blush to them as if he were on a sugar high and his eyes glowed with delight. A purring sound emanated from his throat and mixing with his chewing it sounded like he was saying yum.  
Sure all this was funny in a way but Yugi was laughing at only one thing. How his yami was eating the cinnamon roll. He never used his hands like a normal person would. The only time he'd use his hands is when he picked it up and stuffed it into his mouth. For the remainder of time he used his teeth and ate it one peel at a time. He looked like a human can opener with the cinnamon roll actually turning in his lips until it diminished into his cavernous mouth.  
"Yami you never cease to amaze me. I still don't know how you do that! It defies all logic." Yugi grabbed the cinnamon box and stuffed it in his pocket. A wicked little grin spread across his face. Yami finished chewing his roll and glanced over at Yugi. A smile flitted across his face. Yami jumped down from the counter and followed Yugi back to the couch. He sat down and stared at Yugi who was quietly enjoying his roll. Yugi looked up to meet his gaze.  
"What's wrong Yami? Is something bothering you?"  
"There is only one reason why you pulled out the cinnamon rolls. So...what is it?" Yami cocked an eyebrow, waiting for a reply. Yugi looked at him with big watery eyes and to Yami he was begging.  
"I can't hide anything from you!"  
"Well!!"  
"I was bored Yami and I want to do something with someone. You should know that everyone is busy. I tried Seto but he didn't answer and Mokuba is not home either or he would have answered the phone. Marik and his yami told me that they would be busy but they never told me what they were up to."  
"It might be better that way" Yami mocked. "Well have you tried Joey or Ryou? I'm sure they wouldn't be busy."  
"No Yami, you're wrong."  
"Oh no!!! Yami stated with an exaggerated expression.  
"Very funny Yami. Ha ha! I have tried Joey already but Joey stated plain and simple that he wasn't feeling good."  
"And you believed him?"  
"Of course, but that's not the issue." Yugi waved the suggestion off like it was a fly. Yami almost face faulted at the gesture. He straightened up and coughed slightly at the thought. "Joey being sick...right!" He whispered through fake coughs. Yugi sighed and shook his head.  
"Yami are you done cause I would like to continue."  
"Go on. You were saying?"  
"Ryou was the last one I phoned and he never answered. I was sure he was there. He was three days ago." Yugi's face turned from content to worry.  
"Yugi that was three days ago. We haven't seen him, Strawberry or Yami Bakura for that matter. No contact, no nothing. He just up and disappeared. Wait! That doesn't make sense. Doesn't he live in Seto's house?" Yugi stared out in to space for a few minutes as he let the question sink into his head.  
"Oh yah! I already phoned the Kaiba mansion and no one answered but I'm still worried about him. He has never done this to us before!"  
"Like I said he lives with Seto, that's why it's never happened before." Yami paused to think, his face written with concentration. Yugi watched his yami waiting for some logical explanation.  
"Maybe, Yugi, he went back to his old house were it was just him and his yami?"  
"I hope not Yami. That house gives me the heebie jeebies and it makes his yami act strange. Yami Bakura's powers grow strong and he gets this cold feel around him, like raw energy is seething through his veins." Yugi stated with a glance at the window, expressing the feeling of curiosity. Yami looked at Yugi and laughed. Yugi whipped his head around, snapped out of his thoughts at the abrupt laugh that issued from his yami.  
"What Yami? Why did you laugh? Is it me that you're laughing at?"  
"No Yugi I'm not laughing at you." Yami smiled. Yugi sighed with relief that his yami wasn't laughing at him for being so up tight. But then what was he laughing about or at? What got him giggling?  
  
"To answer your questions Yugi I just thought of asking Otogi about Ryou. I mean you never tried to ask Otogi if he's seen Ryou. Strawberry is his apprentice and were Strawberry is Ryou has to be around some where near by. Otogi has tabs on everyone."  
"You are so right Yami!" Yugi slaps his forehead in a fashion to show how stupid he felt. "And there's Shaadi. I never tried Shaadi either. Shaadi can sort of sense where other items are and transport himself to their whereabouts." Yami jumped off the couch and raced to the door, the excitement of a hunt rushed through him. He stopped only when Yugi called for him.  
"Slow down Yami! I don't have my shoes on!" complained Yugi.  
"Come on Yugi! We don't got all day!"  
"There my shoes are on. Now we can go Yami and thanks for being serene." Yugi joked.  
"Glad to be of service." And with that last sentence Yami was out the door, practically ripping down the street.  
"Yami!!!! You don't have to run! I can't keep up!!" Yugi screamed but Yami never let up. "Fine if you won't listen I'll just have to bring out the drastic measures." Yugi pulled out the cinnamon box and opened it. He waved it in the air to let the scent of it be known that it was behind Yami. Of course, to Yugi's hope, Yami caught wind of it and stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around and came at Yugi with more force then when he first started out with. Yugi knew this force would and could shatter his bones if he didn't dodge. Yugi jumped aside just in time to miss the crushing blow his yami was about to inflict. Yami flew right by and crashed into a mailbox causing it to bend. Yami lay there whimpering, rubbing his head and shoulder that collided with the mailbox.  
"Yami if you listened to me before you wouldn't have ran into that mailbox."  
"Well at least can you give me the cinnamon?" Yami griped.  
"Sorry Yami but I just used it to call you back."  
"Well then I'm not staying! See you at Otogi's."  
"Yami I want you to walk with me. Please!" Yugi looked Yami in the eyes, his lavender eyes starting to sparkle with tears, a trick that Mokuba taught Noa and him. Well all the adorable people in the group, like Ryou as well. It worked on everyone, despite the fact that some of them were cold hearted.  
"God damnit! Fine I'll walk with you but if you do that again I swear I'll..."  
"Meh!" Yugi rolls his eyes in exaggeration. Yugi stands on the spot for a moment, thinking. He decides what he was thinking about and struts over to Yami. He thrust up his arms, flexing his fingers. "Up!" Yami was stunned. He looked down upon Yugi, eyes frozen with shock, wide like saucers. He stammered. "Excuse me!"  
"You heard me Yami, loud and clear." Yugi answered simply.  
"Uh...no. No, no way am I carrying you! You can walk. Use your legs. Besides all you wanted was for me to walk beside you and I get nothing out of it. No cinnamon, nothing." Countered Yami. Yugi whined and brought out the cinnamon. Yami refused it by turning his head and going into full snub mode. Yugi sighed. Fine, he'd just have to bring out the full artillery if Yami was going to turn down the one favourite thing he loved to eat. Not hearing complaining from Yugi anymore, Yami started to get apprehensive. He loved to hear Yugi's voice, especially when he whined. Not hearing it only made him feel empty and ignored. Yami opened his eyes and shifted his head slightly, causing a bang to fall in front of his eye. When Yami's eyes caught Yugi's baby lavender's Yami thought 'I'm screwed'. He was met with a full forced assault of the one and only puppy cry. Yami was beaten. Yugi knew he would win. He smiled a sweet smile to make his yami feel a bit better, knowing loosing was the worst thing that could happen to him. It always made his yami feel sick and Yugi couldn't stand it, seeing his yami's pride hurt. But just to gloat, Yugi threw up his arms, flexed his fingers and said, "Up!" Yami looked at him with a defeated expression. "Okay, fine I'll carry you."  
"Yami, you wanted to get there fast and you know my legs are shorter then yours. This is the only way to go." Yugi smiled once more, giving the feeling to Yami that he was thankful and sorry at the same time. Yami sighed. He knelt down and scooped his aibou up into his warm embrace.  
"Yah, I know Yugi but if anyone asks if you're my kid, I'm answering that you just have a leg problem." Yugi stopped cuddling up to Yami's chest and looked up, a mad little expression on his face. "Yami!" "Don't stop cuddling. Go on. Your hair is all fuzzy and tickly!" Yami ruffled Yugi's hair. "Yami! Don't try and get out of trouble with me." Yugi started to giggled as Yami blew slow tickling breaths into his ear. "Yami...st...stop it! That tickles." Yugi shivered, as a shiver ran up and down his spin. "Fine you're off the hook this time but next time I might not be so generous." They continued this conversation all the way to Otogi's.  
  
"Come in!" Otogi got off of his chair and sauntered over to the door. In his bedroom a low, scratchy growl issued from the room, announcing its aggravation. Otogi ignored it and opened the door. Yami stepped in through the door, holding Yugi in his arms. "Where's Mokodo? I would like to know its where abouts." There was a sharp ring. They heard rustling of sheets and a mousy snarl come from his room.  
"Does that answer your question? Anyway, I've been expecting you two for sometime now. You have something to tell me or will that be tardy too?" Otogi raised a questioning eyebrow.  
"Yes we have questions and we aren't the only tardy people around." Yami raised an eyebrow just the same only he had a "you've been caught red- handed" smile plastered to his face.  
"And I love every bit of it. Now, lay the questions on me before I fall asleep."  
"Have you seen Ryou lately?" Yugi asked, sinking back into worriment.  
  
"As a matter of fact..." Otogi paused in mid thinking.  
"Well, spit it out! What is it?" Yami complained.  
"Nope." Otogi stated simply.  
"Nope what? What do you mean?"  
"Yami! Don't be so rude."  
"Yah Yami! Don't be so rude." Yami fidgeted nervously, face turning red from embarrassment.  
"What I mean Yami is that I haven't seen Ryou and you know what that means! That I haven't seen hide or hair of Strawberry or Bakura and hasn't it occurred to you that Ryou could be out on a walk or something. " Otogi put on his all knowing look.  
"Don't change the subject! You should know where they are Otogi. You do have links with everyone you protect." Otogi's expression faded and an annoyed look replaced it.  
"I can't keep tabs on everyone at once, Yami! Even I have my limits. It's exhausting work watching all of you. That gives you a reason why I'm sleeping the majority of the time and can't help you when you're in trouble. I waist all my fircken time just watching you people do nothing."  
"We get the picture." Yami half lidded his eyes, putting on a sarcastic look.  
"Very good. You've come a long way, little grasshopper." Otogi started laughing. Yami growled and was about to say a rude comment but Yugi hushed him.  
"I was wondering, Otogi, if you would like to help us look for Ryou. You're obviously worried about your pup. He's been gone to long for your taste."  
"If you call three days long."  
"Hush Yami!" Yugi looked up at Yami seriously. "Please hold your tongue." Yami didn't reply. He was to busy looking at Otogi's expression. He could see the worry in the velvet black haired boy's divine green eyes. Otogi stopped pacing and looked at Yugi. "I'll help you search for Ryou but only out of devotion for the ones I keep safe and the fact that something is stirring inside me, a bad feeling to this 'so called' disappearance of Ryou and Strawberry."  
"You make it sound like Sherlock Holmes. I got that of the magic box." Yami smiled. Otogi slapped his face. He knew Yami could be stupid but not that demented. Yugi just shook his head and sighed.  
"What about Yami B?" Yugi looked sort of concerned. To him, he felt it was his duty to worry about everyone. Even the ones that could harm him and the others loathed.  
"In a way my feeling is coming from Bakura. I haven't been watching him over the past days and every time I do look at him, he would shift slightly. I thought he was moody and left him alone. I believed that was what he wanted, considering how he works with everyone else. But now I believe I was wrong. It was something deeper with him that made him shifty under my gaze." Yami stiffened at the very words that slid from Otogi's mouth. He set Yugi down. Yugi looked up, confused.  
"Yami what's bothering you?" Yugi looked at him.  
"Nothing Yugi. My arms need to rest for a bit, that's all."  
"Okay Yami. If that's all it is." Otogi interrupted the converse between the two of them. "If you're ready we can begin the search for them."  
"Oh! Yes we are. Sorry about that Otogi." Yugi apologized.  
"Yugi, I going back into the puzzle."  
"What for Yami?"  
"I need to ponder something and it requires absolute silence. Don't let me hold you back. Go on with Otogi. I'll been in the puzzle if you need to discuss something." With that last sentence, Yami vanished with a golden light. The puzzle glowed a brilliant yellowish gold when he entered and died down to the smooth glint when he settled in. Yugi fingered the puzzle, pondering silently to himself. He let a smile slink on to his face, eyes going all warm and hazy looking as if he were having a warm daydream; not to be awoken. Otogi watched Yugi carefully, watching every facial muscle twitch, so he could read what was on Yugi's mind.  
"Yugi, time is of the essence. I would advise you that if we want to find Ryou it would help us more if we were walking not talking."  
"Oops! Sorry Otogi. I was recalling something." Yugi replied, shocked out of his daydream. Otogi bowed his head in forgiveness and strolled out the door, motioning Yugi to follow him. Otogi locked the door behind them. For precautions only, there were a lot of bums that wandered the halls, looking for open rooms to snoop through. Otogi took Yugi on his little detour around the elevators and stairs. There was to many people that could block their way. They already lost an hour because of their little conversation. They strolled out onto the street and continued the pass meant for Yugi's little legs.  
"Otogi! Where do you think we should start looking? I mean we could go to Seto's mansion to check and see if Ryou left anything behind." Yugi spoke rapidly as he still had to try and keep up with Otogi's swift, long strides.  
"I would think Seto would have noticed anything out of place. It is his home."  
"What of Mokuba or Noa? Would they know to?"  
"Sure they would! Whatever Seto notices, Mokuba and Noa will notice. Yugi don't worry! Everyone's going to help search for Ryou."  
"But Otogi, everyone is busy right at the moment. They all have something to do or work on, like Seto has..."  
"They wont have anything to work on for long." Otogi cracked his knuckles and stretched his fingers, ready to cause some damage. 


	2. chapter 2

What Once Was is Again  
  
Diclaimer: I do not own any of the characters within Yugioh, minus Strawberry (who you will find out about in my fic). Said characters are also OOC. So live with it it's the way I write! Hehehe.  
  
Warning: there have been minor to extreme changes within the characters of Yugioh, but it is all interesting changes no less and makes for interesting reading I must say.  
  
At Kaiba Corp. Seto sat in his chair with an immense look of stress screwed into his pretty little face, causing his ice blue eyes to shrink and form a cold malice stare. Seto drummed his fingers on his glazed wooden desk, penetrating a hole into his laptop, which sat there, helpless and dead. You could call this equipment abuse but to Seto it was another thing apart of his job. Mokuba sat silently across the room on a couch, to afraid to move, thinking the slightest twitch would set Seto off. All Mokuba could do, basically, was stare at the floor. A thumping came down the hallway towards the door. Mokuba shifted his eyes towards the noise, a drop of sweat running down from his brow to his chin. 'Who could it be?' Thought Mokuba. 'I hope they remember it's Seto's silence hour. I don't want them to be yelled at or worse, fired. It would most likely be fired. That's how it's always been. I hope it's one of those people that I hate. I always need those people taken off of my hands. Though harassing them is always good fun and something to do around here. Uh oh, I'm rambling on again.' Mokuba's thoughts were disturbed when the doors shot open. Mokuba winced at the slight shudder the doors made on their hinges. He shot a glance at Seto who had whipped his glare from the laptop to the person standing in the doorway. Mokuba turned back towards the door to see who had entered. A dark emerald haired kid stood in the doorway, with light emerald streaked bangs. He was about Seto's age and the same height as Joey. He wore a white shirt and jeans with a quicksilver emblem on the front of his shirt. A little design ran down the middle of the shirt's sleeve as well. Mokuba almost slid off the couch.  
'Noa!! You should know better than that!' Thought Mokuba, chewing on his lip.  
"Seto!!!! I'm bored to hell! There's nothing to do at Kaiba Corp.!" Noa's eyes were fixed on Seto's. If Noa's eyes were a little lighter, they would match Seto's perfectly. But Noa had something that Seto didn't have and it told them apart quite well. You could clearly see the innocence in Noa's eyes were that has been missing from Seto's for years. It gives Noa childhood and youth. A different kind of youth from Seto's, mind you. Mokuba shook his head, "Noa you can be just like Seto. Your gaze could fight back Seto's if you tried hard enough." Mokuba whispered to himself, not letting Seto hear this.  
"I've broken all the codes and security locks in this building and re- writ them, giving thieves impossible access. That was a favour for you and now you owe me but only when the time comes can you re-pay me. When I need it most is more preferred. I helped, no wait! Harassed the unworthy lowlifes in this building and gave them a bigger workload. I cracked the codes of other businesses and gave you access to their money. Personally I thought you needed it. You seemed kind of behind on the chart polls." By this time Noa had already seated himself down by Mokuba. Mokuba on the other hand was completely lost. He looked towards Seto for guidance but Seto seemed grim.  
"Noa!! I've heard enough! You know what time it is! Don't break rules for your own selfish needs!" Seto snapped under the pressure. He rubbed his forehead.  
"It's not a rule Seto. I looked it up and it's not in the rule book." Answered Noa with this snide remark.  
"I DON'T GIVE A FLYING GLOUTIOUSMAXIMUS!! (whhaaa????) YOU INTERUPTED ME DURING SILENCE HOUR!!!!!!! YOU KNOW I NEED IT AND YOUR RAMBLING ON IS GIVING ME A HEADACHE!!!" If Seto was any louder he could of shattered the big bay windows. "Seto don't use big words your confusing Mokuba and by the way, I think I'm not the only one giving you a headache and say it don't belt it!" Noa had his ears plugged and he held up a bottle.  
"I got this for you today at the pharmacy. They're mood swing pills. It should help manage your anger problem but I think you're beyond help. Oh well! They just put this on the market, well actually this is the first bottle and I said you'd be glad to try them out first, as their guinea pig." Noa said all this leisurely, with no fear of getting his head ripped off. Seto's right eye was now twitching. He was obviously trying to conceal his wrath. Seto picked up a squeeze-toy that Mokuba had gotten him for his b-day. He squeezed it till the eyes popped out of its head. He dropped it onto the floor and looked at Noa.  
"Well...what do you want me to do about it?" Seto forced it out through clenched teeth.  
"I don't know! I thought it was good to let you know that I was bored." He smiled and flashed an adorable look at Seto.  
"Cute." Seto sat there for a moment in silence, rubbing his temple. Mokuba saw the strain in Seto's face.  
"With all this stress Seto's going to turn old early." Mokuba mused to himself. He picked up a pillow lying on the couch and carried it over to Seto. He thrust it into Seto's face as if he were trying to suffocate Seto to death. Well that's what Noa thought but Seto told him wrong. Seto screamed into the pillow while Mokuba held it in his face. After a minute or so Seto lifted up his head and heaved a big sigh.  
"Talk in rhymes..."  
"Seto, that's not a good enough challenge for me." Noa piped up. Seto banged his fist on the desk. "Let me finish!"  
"Oops! Sorry." Noa sat there, all tensed up.  
"Talk in rhymes backwards for a day. That should keep you busy if it's a challenge for you Noa. It's not that hard is it?" Seto spoke with a mocking tone. Noa puffed up at the challenge. "No, I can do it. Thanks for the confront Seto. I'll think about it." Noa lifted himself off of the velvet red couch. He walked towards the door but was stopped by the lights flickering, than completely burning out. The room went pitch black like a blanket was thrown over them.  
"What the hell happened know?"  
"Pillow?" Offered Mokuba.  
  
Elsewhere in the city other lights are going out but only in chosen houses.  
"OW! JEBUS! That hurt! Will you get off of me? You're crushing my ribs!" There was a splash of water, slipping and sliding and someone falling and cursing in pain.  
"Well you poked me in the eye with your toe, my aibou!" Yami Malik crawled out of the tub, rubbing his head were he had hit it on the tap. "OW! That's smarts! Remind me to kill Otogi after this. OH RA!! My eye burns!! Did you cut your toenails?"  
"Yes I cut my toenails and second it was the soap bar that jabbed you in the eye!" Marik sat there in the tub with a wicked smile on his face.  
"Shut-up Marik or you'll have a dose of the soap in your eye!" Marik wiped the smile off his face though the urge to laugh was still there.  
"How do you know it was Otogi? Marik questioned his yami, waiting for a reply.  
"I felt his power surge go off and the neighbours lights are still on, you dolt." Yami Malik shook his head suggesting that his light was a baka.  
"Marik (yeh) do you feel like you're missing something or someone?"  
"No why?" Marik cocked his head in confusement. "Should I be missing something?"  
"Marik you nimrod! How are you ever going to keep a 'friend' if you don't even care if they're missing!!" Marik looked in the direction his yami's voice was coming from. "Does this have to do with Ryou?"  
"No it doesn't! What the hell do you think it is? Ryou's been missing for three whole days!!"  
"He could have been visiting his father or a relative and maybe, just maybe, he wanted it to be secret so he could have time by himself."  
"Have you ever given this a thought? His yami would never go with him or let him go for that matter! Yami Bakura hates Ryou's family. He despises them!" Malik waited for the reply, knowing what would issue from his light's lips.  
"No I never thought of it like that," Yami Malik fell forward, aiming to hit his head on the tub but missed and corked his head on the toilet edge.  
"Oh Ra! Oww-eeww!!! What's that rank smell? I think someone left a floater in the toilet! Aw dang!!" Yami Malik scrambled to his feet and backed away from the toilet as quick as his wet feet could carry him. He tripped over Marik's discarded clothes and landed into the towel hamper. There was splashing in the tub and a thump on the floor. The sound of bare, wet skin slipping across the floor resounded into Yami Malik's ears.  
"I almost landed in that toilet! If I did there would be a price to pay! Marik, how many times do I have to tell you to flush the toilet?"  
"It wasn't me Yami! I always flush the toilet and you know that, so stop hiding it! It was you! That's why you stinked!"  
"It wasn't me Marik! I always flush as well and it couldn't be Isis.... ODIAN!!!" they finished together.  
"And to think I thought it was you that smelt so bad."  
"I thought it was you Yami but boy was I wrong." Inquired Marik through a plugged nose.  
"Oh god! Lets get out of here before I puke." Yami Malik hopped out of the towel hamper, picked up his sandy blonde aibou and raced towards their room. They threw on Marik's clothes causing Yami Malik's own clothes to appear. The two Egyptians raced out the door, gagging on the rancid smell that was filling Marik's house.  
"Marik, we have a job to do. Get your high horse in gear and lets find Otogi." Yami Malik had Marik by the wrist, practically dragging him down the street.  
"Slow down Yami! I can't get my horse in gear if you're half dragging me down the street. You're gonna give me street rash!" Marik was huffing and puffing behind his yami. All he could do was try to gather up his feet from under himself.  
"It wont be my fault if you get pavement burn." Otogi and Yugi were waiting for everyone to arrive, after the little incident. They chatted over a little hot chocolate or coffee, in each ones hand, talking about old memories. If no one was busy doing their own little jobs you could hear their laughter from a mile away.  
"That was rich!" Otogi sat gasping for air. His eyes were full of tears from laughing so hard. "No one ever knew Seto had a fear until that one fateful day."  
"Yah! The spider tree, that's the name of it now. It's full of spiders even if it was lit on fire and burned to a crisp. Seto can't get rid of them." Laughed Yugi.  
"Yugi, do you remember how he reacted."  
"How can I forget. When ever a spider landed on him, he would run and fling his arms in a frenzy." Yugi grabbed his sides. "Oh, my sides hurt from laughing so hard. I feel like I'm going to burst."  
"Don't forget that he screamed like a little school girl!" They looked at each other before bursting out into a fit of hysterical laughter.  
"Okay, I officially have laughing cramps now." Yugi sipped his hot chocolate. He sighed at the old memories. He shook himself out of his reminiscing and looked at Otogi.  
"Otogi. (Yah?) Are you sure that they're going to come? I think only a few would know what that meant, that you wanted to speak with them."  
"Don't worry about it Yugi. I'll get the message across to the ones that are mortal and the incompetent one." Otogi sat back and sipped on his coffee. "Lovely smell caffeine gives off, hey Yugi?"(What?) Otogi raised his hand to block Yugi's reply. He pointed at the ground so Yugi could figure out what had distracted him. The ground drew in a white mist that rippled in waves. An ancient music started to play, signifying that something mysterious was coming through. A white turban surfaced through the mist, leading up to a man in a dirty white cloak and a white robe with puffy pants underneath it. His eyes were nothing but dead looking-as if there was barely any life force in them.  
"Shaadi, you can stop playing that annoying song of yours. We get the picture, you're ancient." Otogi looked at the Egyptian with a sarcastic grin.  
"Fine!" The Egyptian spoke with an ancient drawl that seemed to roll of his tongue lazily. He pulled out a tape player that was hidden under his garments and turned it off. He placed it on the bench and sat down beside Otogi. He turned his head to a tilted position and started to eye Otogi.  
"What are you starring at?" Otogi's eyes widened, for he saw what was going to happen but was to late to stop it. Shaadi had reached out and snagged Otogi's Styrofoam cup full of coffee. Shaadi had miss calculated that the cup snapped easily and squeezed it to hard. The cup split like a banana and spilt coffee all over Otogi.  
"Butterfingers! Look what you did!!" Otogi was fuming. His clothes were covered with coffee from head to toe. Yugi looked at Otogi. He looked ready to shred Shaadi to pieces.  
"Now Otogi, be reasonable. Shaadi didn't mean to."  
"Yugi! Stop covering for this baka! Look at me!!" Yugi knew what was going to come next. Otogi would say his clothes were ruined and then strangle Shaadi.  
"I'm coffee less!! I need my daily after noon coffee!" Yugi sat there speechless. Otogi was worried about his coffee not his clothes.  
"But what about your clothes? They're stained."  
"Yugi I can fix that." Otogi snapped his fingers. The clothes ringed themselves out, leaving no stains just a puddle of coffee on the pavement. Shaadi rolled his eyes.  
"And I wanted that coffee too." Pouted Shaadi.  
"It was your fault you broke it you dingaling! Now I have to get a new one." Otogi snapped his fingers once more and there came a 'pop' noise. A cup of steaming coffee appeared before him.  
"Oh well, that coffee was getting old." Otogi went silent as he drank his coffee. Shaadi quivered and bent over, covering his head with his arms.  
"You better duck down Yugi if you want to keep your head." With that Otogi ducked, shielding his coffee cup. Yugi not knowing what was wrong ducked any ways because these guys always had a sixth sense for dangerous happenings. They waited in silence for something-anything that was coming their way. In the distance there was a scuffling noise drawing near. As it got louder they heard a couple of voices. They sounded as if they were fighting over something. There was a bang on the bench and two Egyptians came rolling over, fighting and swearing in pain. As one landed on top the one on the bottom turtled and stopped fighting. Yugi uncurled from his protection position and met the gaze of two amethyst orbs with pinpricks for pupils.  
"Marik!" Yugi sat up and looked at the sandy blonde who was currently under his yami. Yami Malik sat up from wrestling with a ball of clothes. His body pinned his light to the ground leaving Marik no way to squirm. Malik looked upon his aibou and shook his head in disappointment. He ran his fingers through his sandy blonde bangs to brush them out of his eyes.  
"Marik, stop turtling and fight back for your freedom. I won't stop poking you until then. One of us has to win." Malik started poking and prodding at Marik, hard enough to leave bruises. It caused Marik to writhe in pain. Little pinpricks were stabbing into his face, especially right between the eyes. Marik had no option but to turn and face the oncoming pokes. He wriggled onto his back and bit the next finger that was about to land on his flustered face. Malik pulled back as a set of canines skinned his finger. A small, sharp pain rushed up his finger. He waved it in the air to try and cool of the sensitive nerves that pulsed in his fingertip. He popped the injured pointer finger in his mouth, speaking sour words to his light. "You little rat! Who told you to bite?"  
"YOU practically told me to!! How could I defend myself? You had my arms pinned!!!"  
"Biting shouldn't be outlawed! RA knows where that filthy little mouth has been!" Marik grinned at the statement. "Sure saves me a whole lot of energy!" Malik got off his aibou and dusted himself off. He watched his aibou bend onto his hands, arching his belly upwards, exposing it to the wind. His aibou gave himself a little whip and brought his chest forwards giving him the extra jump to land on his feet. Malik lifted an eyebrow, 'Show-off.' Coughed Yami Malik through his balled fist, which he had raised to his mouth. The three, by then, had risen from their protection (except Yugi who had been watching the whole episode play out) and watched with exaggerated expressions.  
"Well then. That was quite a show. I have to be off to gather the others." Otogi snapped his fingers thrice and then vanished into a dark cloud of smoke. They sat or stood quietly for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. Out of nowhere a hand came through the air and grabbed Shaadi by his cloak.  
  
In a distant place they could here Otogi's voice, sounding kind of distant and stretched.  
You can help retrieve the others with me, you lazy baka! Shaadi gripped the seat, straining to keep hold but failed and disappeared into the vortex screeching.  
"Do you think he put it on a little to thick?" Marik and Yugi looked at Yami Malik, dumfounded.  
"What?" 


	3. chapter 3

What Once Was is Again  
  
Diclaimer: I do not own any of the characters within Yugioh, minus Strawberry (who you will find out about in my fic). Said characters are also OOC. So live with it it's the way I write! Hehehe.  
  
Warning: there have been minor to extreme changes within the characters of Yugioh, but it is all interesting changes no less and makes for interesting reading I must say.  
  
The world around them was a flashing blaze. It was too bright to notice any real shapes but to your blinded eyes some things seemed sort of unnatural with a weird twist to the images. You would have thought you were going insane or at least really drunk because half of the phenomena were really indescribable. Otogi and Shaadi shot through this portal that Otogi had created as if it were a normal path to take. Shaadi watched all the lights flow by, blinding him with a quick flicker. Shaadi could hurl if he kept constant watch on them. This kind of travel always made his stomach uneasy. He never knew how Otogi could withstand it all. He always seemed calm and relaxed in these portals. Shaadi could just imagine this was like a third home to Otogi. A daily ride in a car for him while it was like a run away roller coaster for himself. Shaadi closed his eyes and squeezed his stomach with his hand, clinging to Otogi's right hand with his free hand. Without Shaadi knowing, Otogi would always watch him, snickering in the silencing wind that was forced upon their faces. He always thought Shaadi as a baka but on occasions such as this one and this particular ride he saw Shaadi as a seasick pup and it was quite pathetic. A person of his wizened age or so they thought, no one really knew his age, it was sad to see his stomach not able to bare such a ride. It really made Otogi wonder if he would end up that way. A hole ahead of them brought up Otogi's attention to prepare for landing. They popped through it and landed with a light thump and a hallow thud on the wooden floor of a very messy house. Considering the lights were burnt out they could only tell by feeling around the place and Shaadi happened to land in a pile of smelly clothes. Shaadi ripped his head from the unbearable stench that the clothes were giving off.  
"That really doesn't help my gut." His accent was muffled by his queasiness. His vision was blurred for a minute. It set out and landed on a shadowed lump on the couch. It was hard to make out from where Shaadi lied. The empty darkness didn't help either.  
"Do you think that could be him?" A snore sounded off in the darkness, coming from the couch.  
"Does that answer your question Shaadi?" Otogi picked Shaadi up from the wretched pile of old dirties. Otogi peeled a wet sock of off Shaadi's face that had seemed to suck to him.  
"What if it's the old man of the house?" Otogi walked over to the couch and looked down upon the very loud sleeper. It was to dark for Otogi to see who the person was so he assumed that it was their blonde headed friend Joey. He bent down and groped the floor for a dirty sock. He planned to use it as a wake up call for the dumb blonde. His fingers found what they were looking for and picked it up between his index finger and thumb. The smell was awful and Otogi's nose wrinkled under the smell. Shaadi had inched over to Otogi, trying not to disturb anything unnaturally smelly.  
"Be careful of disturbing his slumber. He can be really volatile."  
"I know that Shaadi! (SHUUUSH) Don't silence me and spare his slumber. This pig needs to be awakened!" Otogi whispered hoarsely. Even he was afraid to wake up the wild blonde.  
"Are we absolutely sure this is Joey? What if it is the cranky old man?"  
"Shaadi!! The old man couldn't hurt a fly he so drunk!" "That's the scary part." Otogi grabbed the body and rolled it over so he could stuff the sock in Joey's face.  
"Uugh!! Joey's been putting on a few pounds and I think he's been bathing in beer!" Otogi held his nose and held out the sock. "It so bad I could barf."  
"No kidding!" Shaadi reeled back from the once concealed alcohol stench. Otogi plunged the sock into the unsuspecting man, plugging the nose and filling it with the musty smell. There were only a few moments of silence until there come a gurgling noise from the person on the couch. Coughing fallowed shortly after and then shrieks and struggling immediately surfaced. The bellows were crotchety and man-like, too deep to be that of a teenager. A huge burly form rose off the couch and blared at the two teens. (We'll call Shaadi that because we don't know if he ages or not.) In the dark all they could see was the shape of a man with a tiny head, like the shape of a peanut, shoulders that looked as if they came above the head, a belly that could have sagged to the floor if anymore beer was guzzled and his legs were blocked by the beer belly, but other then that, the man was a massive brute. It tottered on its feet still under the effect of being drunk and it obviously wasn't to pleased with them. The man staggered forward holding out his hands to grab at them. Shaadi, being sickened by the smell before and the re-action of their so-called friend, was frozen up against the wall. His throat felt locked up, making it hard to utter a word. Otogi on the other hand was in range of being snagged by the grubby fingers. Otogi was shocked still, frozen like a statue, with his jaw hanging slightly open. It was only by the strangled squeak that Shaadi forced up made Otogi aware of the man's fingers just inches from his face. Otogi reeled backwards with such force that he slammed into the wall. The force of the slam brought back his voice, which scared Shaadi to scream. Otogi screamed along with Shaadi. All this noise enraged the beast and made him blunder towards the two. They screamed once more in the man's face and bolted for the stairs that lead up to Joey's room. Otogi bounded up the stairs blindly, scaling four at a time. Shaadi was behind Otogi but being scared shitless, when he tried to jump stairs he tripped and fumbled. He banged his knee on the edge of a stair, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the railing. He fell too the bottom of the stairs and landed in a heap of clothes. Otogi had encountered a mishap like this before and regained his head before he completely lost himself. He looked back at the petrified form of Shaadi sitting at the bottom of the stairs. The man was walking towards Shaadi, well stumbling towards him. Otogi still had use for Shaadi, so like a brave hero; he leapt from the top of the stairs and landed beside Shaadi just as the man had reached him. This unexpected turn of events scared the brute and it toppled over, missing the landing pad that could have been Shaadi and landed square on his face. Otogi had Shaadi slung over his shoulder and whipped up the stairs and around the corner. The floor felt waxed under Otogi's feet. He slid into a room losing control, swinging his arms wildly to try and keep his balance. His feet flew out from under him as he tried to stop on the hard wood floor. Shaadi landed on top of his head as they both fell to the ground. Under Shaadi came grunts and moans. "Shaadi get of my head!! You're suffocating me!" Came Otogi's muffled voice. Shaadi reluctantly crawled off Otogi, shivering like a mad dog. Otogi sprang to his feet and barred the door with an old Wisk broom and a chair from a desk. He slid to the floor and heaved a sigh. He lifted up his hand and looked at it. It was shaking uncontrollably. In fact he was shaking all over. He looked at Shaadi. Shaadi was convulsing madly. He looked like he was having a seizure.  
"What a rush! Look at me. I'm having a fit of shakes here and I thought I was tougher then that." Otogi glanced at Shaadi for a response.  
"I th...th...think I'm going to piss myself." Stuttered Shaadi as he clung to his chest. Otogi looked in the other direction at the bed in the room. A lump on the bed moved and a shaggy head of blonde hair emerged from under the covers. It looked drunk as well. Otogi screamed at the sudden appearance of the boy, which made Shaadi scream in terror even if he didn't see it.  
"Joey! Don't ever do that again! You could have made Shaadi pee his pants!"  
"Too late." Said the Egyptian.  
"Eeew." Echoed both the teens. Joey got out of bed and sauntered over to his closet and pulled out a pair of jeans.  
"Here. You can wear these until your garb is washed."  
"Joey. He'll also need a shirt because his robe got soaked as well."  
"O...kay. Here, he can were this white t-shirt and this sliver, grey sweater with a hood on it so ya' can cover your head with it considering that turban would look goddy with it." Joey handed the clothes over to Shaadi. Shaadi held up the white t-shirt and looked at Joey. Joey shrugged. "It's all I could give ya'. Oh and here's some boxers for ya' to wear." Joey tossed the boxers over to Shaadi. With that Shaadi changed into the clothes that were given to him and discarded his wet garb. The jeans were baggy around the crotch and loose on the legs and around the ankles, hiding some of his feet. The t-shirt was long and baggy. The arms came down to his elbows and the end of the shirt came a little below the waistline, sticking out from underneath the sweater, which fit snugly and loose around his body. When he pulled over the sweater he discarded the turban revealing short, tuffs of black hair. His hair was spiky, in a messed up sort of way. He put on his millennium key adding to the clothes. He kept his slipper shoes that he wore in Egypt.  
"I feel out of place and silly." You could tell the Egyptian was embarrassed. It wasn't his normal style so no one could blame him.  
"Don't be a baka Shaadi you look great. It's better then those beggar outfits you wear." Otogi watched Shaadi fume but was interrupted by Joey. Joey had turned on a battery ran lamp and had perched himself on the bed.  
"So! What seems to be the problem?"  
"No time to explain Wheeler. We have to go and snag Seto and his brothers. We've wasted enough time in this hellhole already. There came a bang on the door causing Shaadi to jump two feet off the floor and startle the other two. The bellow off a man cursing outside the door was heard. Otogi got off his butt and stood up, dusting himself off. "Joey, you're officially not welcome here. You can stay with Seto Kaiba. So, Lets go." Joey glowed at the remark from Otogi. He wasn't coming back to this place again. No one was.  
  
They travelled at light speed through the same portal that Otogi and Shaadi had entered through. Joey was having a fit of excitement burst through him at the sight of the lights.  
"Pretty!!!!" Exclaimed Joey with glee.  
"I am glad there is another who shares the same opinion as I but I am also disappointed that this other has no common intellect."  
"Hey! I resent that!" Joey glared at Otogi but noticed Shaadi's disapproval of the ride. He laughed at Shaadi but when he opened his mouth to laugh, he was facing the wind and it was forced back down his throat. Shaadi laughed with the wind but was not heard for it was carried away to quickly. The ride ended as it did before. They landed in the darkness of a room. This time Shaadi had landed on his butt on a couch as well as Otogi and it was Joey's turn to land unruly. He hit the couch with his chest and bounced on to the floor with a loud thud. Nobody noticed their arrival because they were all being told to do something about the light problem. Men and women ran about telling orders to others. It was a circus at Kaiba Corp. People were tripping over plant pots, other people and themselves. Joey sat up and squinted around him. "What a mess this place is. Seto's not very good at giving orders in the dark."  
"Darn! We landed five stories below Kaiba's office. Shaadi transport us to the very top floor of this building."  
"Very well Otogi. Grab dumb dumb's hand." Otogi gripped Joey's hair and they disappeared into the floor. Shaadi poked his head through the floor in Seto's office. He scanned the room for life.  
"I see nothing Otogi! Are you sure you were right because it sure doesn't seem like it."  
"Yes Shaadi. I can feel their presences in the room. Pull us up and I will see." Shaadi heaved them up through the floor. He caught something in the corner of his eye move. Out of the darkest corner of the room, behind Seto's desk no less, it had sprung and launched it's self directly at the emerging teens. Otogi immediately swung out of the way and Shaadi had dashed to one side of the room leaving Joey out in the open and vulnerable.  
"SETO STOP!" Screamed Otogi. A crowbar had stopped inches from Joey's skull. A flashlight turned on, revealing Seto poised with a crowbar above the crouching Joey who had his arms up in an attempt to protect himself. Seto's pupils shrunk under the beams of the flashlight then reformed to original size as they adjusted to the bright light. Otogi looked at were the light came from. Mokuba and Noa stood to the side holding the flashlight, their faces puzzled at the sight they saw.  
"Okay Seto. Put down the crowbar. There is no need to protect your pups anymore."  
"Hey!" Came from both the Kaibas. "We're not pups!" Stated Noa. Shaadi reappeared as soon as the crowbar had been dropped. All the Kaibas eyes popped at the sight of Shaadi's new clothes but Shaadi ignored the stares. He walked over to Joey and picked him up off the seat of his pants.  
  
Joey glared at Seto as if he were trying to strike guilt into Seto. It didn't work out to what Joey had expected. Seto just stared right back at him, penetrating Joey's gaze with his own and slowly but surely a smile spread across Seto's face.  
"Humph! You could be a little kinder!" Joey stopped what he was saying. He had something to throw right at Seto. It would make Seto so displeased and Joey pleased.  
"Yah that's right Seto! You have to be nicer to me because I'm staying with you again but this time it's forever and ever and ever."  
"Nice play of words." Seto looked at Joey with no sign of going stark raving mad at the news. Joey was beaten, again.  
"Fine you win! Otogi has to tell you something anyway. Don't you Otogi?" Otogi was opening a new portal to take them all back too the group when he heard Joey's question. He just caught the very ending. "What?"  
"You know Otogi. Why you're gather all of us up and all." Joey was rolling his hand along with his words, trying to get Otogi to pick up were Joey didn't know anything. Otogi looked at Joey with blank stares. It snapped into place as soon as Otogi thought about it.  
"Oh yes! Yes I do Joey. You can stop reminding me know."  
"So then! What's it about?" This question sounded more like a threat than a question coming from Seto. Mokuba and Noa looked at Otogi for answers. Otogi stood by the now finished porthole, like an usher into a theatre. "Um...well? I'll tell you when we get there." Otogi noticed Seto's anger rising under the circumstances. He wasn't sure how to calm Seto down. Noa notice this as well and a smirk appeared on his face. Now was the chance to test those pills he got Seto. Noa handed the flashlight over to Mokuba and slipped past Seto, towards the desk. He picked up the bottle and popped off the lid. He watched Seto for the right opportunity to throw in the pill because Seto wouldn't take it willingly. He'd bite off fingers first before they got the pill down so force was needed. Seto's anger was at its peek and he opened his mouth to utter terrible words at Otogi. Noa noticed his chance. He rushed in front of Seto and dropped one pill into his hand. Seto stopped right as he saw Noa drop the pill into his hand but was to late to close his mouth. Noa had thrown the pill into the air, right at Seto. It flew into Seto's mouth and down his throat making him gag at the little object that was intruding his gullet. As the pill landed in his stomach his whole mood on everything changed within two seconds in a minute. He went from huffing mad to docile.  
"Seto? What was it that you wanted to ask me?" Asked Otogi.  
"Otogi...I'm not going with you. I'll just stay back and fix up my company." Seto said this in a very calm tone. There was no sign of rage in him. This freaked Otogi out and the rest of them.  
"Noa! What's wrong with Seto? He's not my brother that I know anymore!" Mokuba was freaking out. Seto was always mad or rude and that's what Mokuba was use to. Mokuba looked down at the pillow he had picked up in his hand. His face had an unpleasant texture to it. It was the facial expression of depression. Mokuba couldn't use their old routine that Seto and he had made up and these new pills made Seto act weird. Mokuba dropped the pillow and walked over to Seto. He grabbed Seto's hand and stood there, waiting for Otogi to decide something.  
"Come Seto. Yugi is waiting for you at the other end." Otogi waited for Seto to react. Seto stood there, blinking, holding onto Mokuba's hand. Mokuba looked up at his brother. "Seto?"  
"YUGI!!!!" Seto dashed towards the portal, dragging Mokuba behind him. As Seto neared it the vortex's power sucked him in. Both him and Mokuba screamed as they were blinded by the bright lights and hurled forward.  
"Quickly everyone. We can't lose them!" Otogi jumped into the vortex just as Shaadi snagged his hand.  
Joey! Throw Noa in. Maybe he'll catch up to us!Yelled Otogi as he whipped away. Joey grabbed Noa by the back of his shirt and the seat of his jeans.  
"Here we go!!!!"  
"Let me go! You're giving me a wedgie!!" Hollered Noa as he was tossed into the portal. Joey followed behind by holding onto Noa's ankle. They caught up with Otogi and Shaadi in no time flat but Seto and Mokuba were long out of sight. Joey screamed at Noa to grab hold of Shaadi's legs. Noa hooked himself onto Shaadi. It was his first time in something like this. He never even dreamed of it. Everything was gorgeous in his cobalt blue eyes. They were going at warp speed if that is what you want to call it in human speed. The dull shine of the sun was upon them as they flew out of the portal to land on cement. Otogi pulled them out of the dive and landed them gently on a bench between the gang.  
"I'm shot! I can't use any more magic or I'll collapse from exhaustion. If I fall asleep then you guys are on your own, I can't help you." Otogi heaved a big sigh.  
"Did Seto and Mokuba make it? If they're lost in that portal of mine we won't see them any time soon." Otogi scanned the group. Yugi walked over to Otogi. "They're here Otogi. Its just that I think Seto can't help us at the moment."  
"Why do you say that Yugi?"  
"He's a sleep." Answered Malik. Yami Malik stepped aside to show Mokuba sitting on the bench beside a drooling Seto. Mokuba was shaking his head in shame at his screwed up brother.  
"Noa. When does that pill were off?" Mokuba said curiously.  
"I don't know! The pharmacists didn't say and they said it never mattered."  
"Noa! Seto could stay like this forever or get really sick or...or..."  
"Mutate because of the side effects?" Inquired Marik. At that statement Mokuba started crying. Yugi sat down by Mokuba and started to reassure him.  
"Marik, that was very retarded of you." Yugi's face went stern.  
"Aaaww! Yugi, you look so cute when you get angry." Marik laughed away any in security that Yugi had planted. Yugi couldn't believe this teen's problem. He was either mental or just plain dumb. He was sure it was both. Malik hushed Marik by slapping him over the head. Marik wasn't to thrilled by this but what goes around comes around. Forgetting about Marik, Yugi turned to Otogi. "What section are you taking Otogi?"  
"I'll take to the skies. Marik. You and your yami can take the South side of Domino City. The Kaibas can have East side. Shaadi. You can search anywhere in the West district and Yugi..."  
"Yah!" Yugi looked at Otogi expectantly.  
"You, your yami and Joey can have the North side of Domino."  
"Does everybody get this?"  
"Yes!" Everyone was practically in an uproar. Mokuba broke in. "But what do we do with my brother?" Mokuba was still sobbing. Mokuba's breathing was coming in as little hiccups.  
"We'll stay behind and wait till he awakens." Yugi had parked his self beside Mokuba. Noa groaned. "But I wanted to go on the hunt!"  
"Go with Joey. You two can start without us." Yugi stated.  
"What about Yami? I haven't seen him at all today!" Joey eyed Yugi looking for any sign of Yami. /What of you Wheeler? What about the sudden sickness you declared earlier?/ "Yah Joey? I thought you were ill today." Yugi looked up at his friend with a suspicion Joey never saw in Yugi's eyes. "Um...I...got over it...Yah. I got over it!" Yugi's eyes narrowed wickedly, flashing a crimson red. He snarled at Joey.  
"AH!!" Joey leaned back. Yugi shook his head. Hair ruffling in the breeze he created. Yugi's eyes enlarged to their full size and turned lavender again.  
"I'll go with Noa now." Joey timidly slinked away, Yugi's stare following him. Joey walked by Noa, signalling Noa to follow. The others shrugged and went back to their business.  
"Lets do it!" They split up and went on their chosen path, leaving Yugi, Mokuba and Seto behind. 


	4. chapter 4

What Once Was is Again  
  
Diclaimer: I do not own any of the characters within Yugioh, minus Strawberry (who you will find out about in my fic). Said characters are also OOC. So live with it it's the way I write! Hehehe.  
  
Warning: there have been minor to extreme changes within the characters of Yugioh, but it is all interesting changes no less and makes for interesting reading I must say.  
  
A small house, with boarded up windows, sat lonely on the side of the street. The cracks between the boards black with sadness. This was the old household of Ryou Bakura. He lived in it while his father went on expeditions. But one tragic day, the day when Ryou's father should return from a long over due trip, never appeared on the doorsteps to greet Ryou. Ryou waited for that day to come when his father would return home. Years passed and Ryou's father was officially announced dead. Ryou was declared an orphan, with no living relatives that would take care of him. The orphanage would come every day to pick Ryou up and take him away from his only memories of his dad. Ryou was always resilient and locked them out at every attempt. They grew tired of persuading Ryou and tried to take him by force but failed. They were out to get him no matter about it. Ryou would eventually grow used to their attempts but never caved in. He watched and prayed for his father to come but in the end came to a conclusion that his dreams would never come true. He blamed it all on his Millennium Ring that was the last gift his father gave him. The ring caused Ryou pain, unbearable pain and agony. The spirit of the ring, now known as Ryou's yami, Yami Bakura, was the deliverer of all this grief. He would beat Ryou senseless and leave him to bleed. He made Ryou have no friends. They thought Ryou was insane and always ran away in terror. No matter what Ryou did no one listened to him. To rid himself of this evil he would depose the ring in the trash or with someone else but the ring found its way back and with rage Ryou's yami was down upon him, teaching him one of his lessons. These lessons were brutal on Ryou and he never knew why. One fateful day Ryou met Yugi and the gang and became friends slowly for his yami would try and prevent their friendship from growing. Ryou's friends never knew why Ryou was always hurt or bleeding but they got it out of Ryou and saved him from death or danger. They tamed Yami Bakura, slowly but surely and Ryou was rid of all harm. But just to make sure Ryou was safe and that his yami wouldn't try and hurt him in the near future, a guardian was given to Ryou out of a prophecy and so Strawberry was born into the world. Strawberry was named after his strawberry shaped birthmark on the left side of his chest. Strawberry looks exactly like Ryou, as if he was a yami as well, but he does have differences. His white hair is pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes are like Ryou's when he is joyous and sad, anytime that requires big puppy eyes. His eyes can shape to Yami Bakura's shape when he is storming mad or suspicious. Strawberry's eye colour is yellow, a golden yellow with the hint of red in the iris. He has wings of an angel to allow him to soar high and magical powers just like his sensei Otogi. He wears black leather to symbolize that he is a force to be reckoned with. But he is still a pup and has lots to learn.  
  
Ryou opened his eyes to an unbearable pain, pounding in his head. To Ryou's disappointment it has been that way for three days. The same treatment over and over again if he failed his yami's expectations, which were all impossible to do. Blood stained his face. His hair was streaked with the colour red. It would fall slowly from a wound in his head. He swore he had brain damage from all the times his head connected with something sharp. Nothing got any better from there. He slept in his old room with little comforts. All his possessions were either trashed by his yami or thrown out the window by his yami. It made no difference to what purpose they were all used for because they just ended up being used against him. Strawberry wasn't any better off then Ryou. Strawberry just kept on bringing up Yami Bakura's anger and would not stop at the half waypoint. He was persistent and did not yield to any sign that Ryou threw his way. Every morning to every night and through the day they'd be at each other's throats. So by the end of the day Strawberry was filled with raw pain and laying in a heap of blood. Ryou took him into heal and bore the pains of Strawberry, let alone his own suffering. Why? What made him turn on me? I thought he was fixed? I thought he had no more pain to share with me or hide? Does he do this on purpose? Does he really like seeing me squirm under his power? No! No! That just can't be! Can it? He would ponder these questions for three days and each day draws near to one answer. Yes.  
Ryou. You know the answer is in your heart why Yami Bakura is doing this to you. It's not a game. It's not a test of your durability. It's just plain torture. You just don't want to harm him, do you?   
"No! I can't hurt him! He's my yami. My responsibility and I shouldn't let him harm you! Strawberry, I just want to hear the answers first before I judge him myself. I don't want to be a mistake like him. I don't want to be him period and yet he's a part of me and I'm a part of him!" Ryou dropped his face into the palms of his hands. Between his fingers rolled out a pearly white tear.  
"Why? Why does he do this to me?" Ryou could have cried himself to sleep if a rude, unpleasant voice hadn't laughed at him. Strawberry shot a glance toward the intruder through his quivering master's eyes. Oh how he loathed that voice and the spirit that owned it. Yami Bakura emerge out of the dark hallway door, eyes alight in the dark, casting an eerie glow about that wicked grin. He strode over to the couch were Ryou was crouched, quailing as if a dagger would come down and smite him. Ryou couldn't look at his yami, feeling the way he was right at the moment. Look at me was all he heard from his yami. It was repeated once room ending with a chill in the air. His yami was mad he could feel it. This cold air came about before he was going to do something harsh.  
"I SAID LOOK AT ME!" A hand snagged Ryou's hair, pulling it upwards with a force that could have ripped all his hair right out of his head. It forced him to his feet to face the raving yami. His eyes were cold and full of malice but it wasn't as bad as normal. Ryou had seen worse and if worse it was much more dangerous. Ryou could only shiver and stare at his yami's cold eyes. He was tugged forward and hauled to the kitchen. Yami Bakura stopped at the stove and looked at Ryou with an evil grin, almost sadistic.  
"You must be punished for disobeying an order." Ryou could have sworn the merciless grin on his yami's face touched his ears. His laugh sent a chill down Ryou's spin as Yami Bakura turned on the bottom burner to the stove, cranking it to max. Ryou realized that his yami was going to burn his hands on the burner. Trying to worm out of his yami's wrist breaking grip he stuttered, "Yami I'm sorry. Please forgive. I wont do it again. I promise, I promise." Yami B wasn't listening to his pleases. Ryou tried harder seeing his yami was trying to pull his hand to the burner. Reflexes flying, he panicked.  
"Yami don't! Please!! I wont...I will never, NEVER disobey you again!!! Yami! YAMI!!!!" A blood-curdling scream echoed through the house and out into the city. Barely reaching the outside limits. On a bench, waiting for Seto to awaken, Yugi's ears twitched and his head turned in the direction of the scream. The millennium symbol appeared on his forehead casting a foreboding appearance on his face. Mokuba had heard the scream as well. The sound had set him off balance and he was clinging to his sleeping brother.  
"Seto please wake up! I...I want to go!" Mokuba choked on a whine caught inside his throat. He sputtered to release the air from his lungs. Mokuba cuddled into his brother for warmth, slinging Seto's arm around him. He placed his head on his brother's slowly rising chest. It comforted him a little to hear his brother's beating heart. A hand landed on Mokuba's shoulder. He lifted his head to look up at Yugi.  
"Don't worry Mokuba. It's time for your brother to wake up."  
"But Yugi, it was pills that made Seto sleep. Don't we have to wait until they were off?"  
"Not anymore. Why don't you take a look?" Mokuba turned his head to glance at his brother. The sennon eye glowed on Yugi's forehead, as he himself looked at Seto. To Mokuba's joy Seto twitched and moaned. He opened his eyes slowly. As the setting sun hit his eyes, they shrank and then reformed as they adjusted to the light. Seto sat up and rubbed his head, his cool blue eyes looked pale and groggy.  
"Ow! My head's throbbing as if I've been pounded by a mallet." He moaned. (Stupid pills.) He said under his breath. Mokuba eyes were alight with sparkling tears. They fell down his face as he sprang on Seto. "Seto!!!" Mokuba glomped Seto's head with all his might. He burrowed his face into his brother's hair and inhaled with a muffled sob.  
"Um...Mokuba? Brother. Can't. Breath. I..." Mokuba broke out in repetition. "Seto, Seto, Seto, Seto, Seto, Seto!!!! My brother didn't mutate Yugi! He didn't mutate!! (Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!) I new Marik couldn't be right. I didn't believe him for one minute Seto." Mokuba took a gasp for air.  
"I was so worried Seto. I..."  
"Hush! I know Mokuba. You didn't leave me for one second and yes I'm glad for it but could you do your big brother a favour?"  
"Yah, I could Seto. What is it?"  
"Could you get off your poor brother's head and hug something else instead. I would love some air right about now." Mokuba blinked for a second or two and then got off Seto's head hesitantly. Seto took a slight breath of air but was bombarded by more hugs, which turned into bear hugs that threatened to snap his spin. He grunted. "Ugh...uh...a...Yu...gi?"  
"Seto, I was worried too but we have no time to waste. We must go find Ryou now! He's been hurt I know it!"  
"Yugi, slow down! I don't follow you? I know I haven't seen Ryou for days and I'm worried about him too but what do you mean?"  
"Seto everyone thinks that Ryou's yami has turned for the worse again." Deep in Seto's throat came a menacing growl. "That low life rat thinks he can just take shelter under my roof, stab us in the back and get away with it! Well he as something else coming his way!"  
"Seto calm..." Yugi's hair waved slightly like as if a silent breeze blew by. Yugi jumped off of Seto's lap and grabbed hold of his hand. Yugi was edgy and he showed it by yanking Seto to his feet.  
"Yami just ran. If we want to keep up with him lets go!" Yugi let go and took off down the street, following an invisible trail.  
"Seto. I wont be able to keep up."  
"Get on my back and don't let go." Mokuba bounced onto Seto's back, hardly fazing Seto's balance. He clung with his legs and squeezed with his thighs for extra support. Seto took off at a sprint as soon as Mokuba was secure. They gained a few blocks already, the wind whipping their hair at the rate they were going at. Seto caught up with Yugi in meagre seconds as if Yugi had just started. He swung out his hand and caught Yugi by the collar of his jacket. Pulling with his momentum he whisked Yugi into his arms and bore the two little ones down the street.  
"Seto are you sure you can keep up this pace for long with the two of us weighing you down?"  
"Yes Yugi."  
"What about directions? Can you follow Yami in this state?"  
"Yes Yugi I can. I can see and feel ghosts remember?"  
"Ah yes and our shadow realm forms also give you a super sense as if you had a link with him as well."  
"Yes." They ran for blocks. Every now and then they would change directions with a sharp turn and head through a back alley or through someone's back yard. It seemed like an hour later but finally Seto came to a skidding halt, a stop that was so sudden it could have thrown Yugi and Mokuba off if they weren't clinging to Seto. The stop had brought them in front of an old run down house with boarded up windows. The paint was peeling off because of misuse. Yugi's eyes widened with disbelief. "Yami brought us here! This is Ryou's old house before he moved in with you!"  
"I know." Mokuba only shivered. He had some nasty encounters with this particular house and they all had to do with Yami Bakura. The house was foreboding in his eyes and he sensed great evil come from the house just on it's own. From all the times Yami B had dwelled in there, the darkness grew to the house. In it's very walls it lurked to consume someone and that would most likely be someone who was corrupted easily. Mokuba looked at the back of Seto's head. His brother fit that description too well for his likings.  
"Seto, I don't want you to go into that house. It threatens to consume us all!"  
"But why worry about me, Mokuba?"  
"Because you've been corrupted before by an evil presence and I don't want that to happen again."  
"Don't worry about your brother Mokuba. He'll be fine." Yugi jumped down from Seto's arms and landed on his feet crouched. He scanned the area with his lavender eyes, etching over every groove for signs of life in the paling sunlight. His puzzle glowed in the dim light when his eyes hit the door.  
"Yami! Come here! Please show yourself." Yugi whispered. A hand touched Yugi's shoulder or what felt like a hand. Yugi looked but didn't see a thing on his shoulder but still felt something.  
"I'm right here aibou." Yugi could have screamed at the sudden voice but his mouth was covered before he could utter a word. His yami appeared next to him with his hand over Yugi's mouth. His ruby red eyes were drop dead serious when he stared at Yugi.  
/He must have been contemplating for a long time in his soul room to come here right on a dime. / Yugi thought to himself why Yami got so fired up when he neared the place. It could only mean one thing that Ryou was in that house with Strawberry and his yami.  
"Yami, you old fool! How come you never told me? What was it that made you keep it all to yourself?" Yugi placed his hands on his round chubby hips. He made a noise that only meant he was serious and demanded the truth right away. Yami's eyes shaded over, a nervous glint rebounding off of them. His eyes shifted left then right and he could only stammer while trying to answer Yugi. Seto bent over and watched closely. A grin spread across his lips and he started to chuckle at the sight of Yami getting fidgety under Yugi's contradicting gaze.  
/Shut up Seto/ Yami whispered to the multi-billionaire. "Yugi I didn't want you to worry or drive you over the edge because of exhaustion! 'Gulp'...uh...hehe! I'm doomed." Yami shifted nervously as Yugi puffed up. He laughed edgily, waiting for Yugi to pounce. His legs twitched every time Yugi moved slightly. He didn't want to hang around and find out how dangerous his aibou could be.  
"Yami!" Yami could feel Yugi raise his hands but no matter what he wasn't going to look his light directly in the face, eye to eye. Oh no, he wasn't going to fall for that one again. He heeded a huff of air being released from his aibou. Here it comes. Brace yourself he thought.  
"That was all." Yami lifted his head up from under his arms for there was nothing slapping him. Nothing.  
"Aibou?" Yami turned to face his light. /WHAT!!! / Yami's eyes bulged. He sworn if they bulged any bigger they would have fallen out of his head. Yugi wasn't scowling like he was two minutes ago but had his hand up to his mouth and was trying to suppress his mirth.  
"I didn't know the pharaoh was afraid of little old me!" Yugi giggled. "I'm sorry Yami but I had too. I wanted to see who was on top and who was on the bottom (as in leader and follower.) I guess I'm top dog Yami." Yugi smiled at the frozen yami.  
"What? No!! I'm the king! How...how could you trick me like that?"  
"It's a tough world Yami and whoever turtles first is the bottom dog. The loser!" Seto grinned a malicious smile.  
"Easy for you to say Seto. You're already top dog."  
"Lets hope it stays that way!" Mokuba, who is still sitting on Seto's shoulders, punches his brother in the head.  
"Hey!"  
"Yah, well I want to be on top! I've never been on the bottom before and it does not start here!"  
"Yami, I was only joking! I know how much that means to you but my little joke also means that Pharaoh is getting lazy in his years. Hehe heh!" Yami almost paled in the dim sunlight if it wasn't for a noise that came from the house. Instead he replaced it with a low, irritated growl.  
"Lets get out of view." Yami hooked Yugi's arm and hauled him out around to the other side of the house were wild bushes took to grow. Seto slunk behind quietly. They ducked behind the thorny bushes, trying to conceal themselves from Yami Bakura or whatever made that noise. Yami opened a crack in between the pointy bush to get a view of the street and any approachers. Seto placed Mokuba on the ground beside him. "Isn't this just a little absurd? I mean its not like Bakura has people working for him!"  
"Tell that to my yami. I think in ancient Egypt they over exaggerated. That could be used to explain this!"  
"Sounds good enough for me." Mokuba looked at Seto then Yugi with worry in his eyes. "You mean there could be ambushers?"  
"Brother I don't think Bakura would have set up an ambush if he didn't know we where here."  
"Then why did Yami pull us into the bush?"  
"I think he's just paranoid." Yugi shook his head in agreement.  
"Sssssshh!!! You don't know that! I heard something and it could be anything!" Mokuba whimpered. "Yami shut up! You're scaring Mokuba!"  
"He's scaring me right at the moment." Yugi said, as he stared at his yami with a look that could be described as terror but more modestly speaking, just plain creeped out. A noise from beyond the prickly bush frightened them to shut up. They had no idea what it was so they were intent on listening. Yami crouched onto his hands and knees. He prepared himself like a springboard, ready to launch himself at the unwary intruder but instead, thinking best for his aibou and Mokuba behind him and the fact that attacking would give them away, he poked his head out of the bushes to get a peep at the intruder. There was a shocked wail from the other side of the bush as Yami had just stuck his head out. The sudden cry of shock scared Yami and he screamed in reply. He pulled his head in quickly and there immediately came the sound of muffled voices and shuffling. Of course though, the other person on the outside of the bush was of no threat to them. He was a simple mail boy just trying to do his job. Of course it makes no sense what so ever as to why the boy was at this house for the mail service had told all employees that the house was not in use. But, obviously, this retard was simply stupid and didn't listen to a word people say so there for did not hear that announcement and has obviously been pestering the Bakura household for quite some time now. (But our heroes don't know this know do they) Yami was telling his little pack about his sighting and that they should definitely move before they were caught. They were ready to depart when the bushes separated and a face appeared through the hole. The mail boy had asked what the four people where doing in a bush outside a house like this but they never heard him in their panic stricken hollers.  
"It's too late!" Screamed Mokuba. "We've been found!! We're all doomed! DOOMED!!!!!" The kid was about to jump forward and scream, running for his life if his brother hadn't snagged him by the shirt. Mokuba was jerked off his feet and landed on his rear end. He rubbed his throat and gasped for air for his windpipe had been slightly squeezed. Yami was sitting there wondering what to do to help his friends and little aibou, still not knowing that this pathetic excuse for a mail boy was no threat at all. He did the first thing that came to his mind, throw something and throw something pointy and hard. The mail boy was confused as he watched the people panic, wondering what could possibly cause someone to freak out so badly. He was about to ask another question because, you know, just to get it off his mind when he heard someone scream at him.  
"I shall smite you for all you're worth!!! Feel the pharaoh's wrath!!!" A hand appeared quickly in front of his face, just like that but the hand was replaced with a horrible, scratchy burning in his eyes. The mail boy let out a terrible scream, throwing his hands up to his eyes and started to rub furiously. He fell to the ground in absolute shock, cursing and spitting. He was an appalling sight for any one who didn't know what had happened. Yami had grabbed a handful of those pointy, razor-sharp needles that sat in abundance on the wild bush. He did what any one could do best with them, throw them and he threw them directly into the mail boy's eyes. With this distraction Yami grabbed Yugi's hand and hauled him out of the bush. He looked back at the boy and a demonic grin spread across his face with satisfaction at his accomplishment over the enemy's spy.  
"Lets go Seto! Grab Mokuba and follow me!! The enemy is down!!!" Yami had to yell at Seto to speak to him over the racket the mail boy was creating. The four raced away from the bush and down the lamp lit street. (By now the sun had set and the street lamps automatically turn on at this time in the evening) They turned into the back alley to make it an interesting 'escape'. Well Yami thought so anyway. They stopped when Yami thought they were far enough away from the 'perpetrator'.  
"Yami, can we stop? It's getting harder to breath and my feet hurt." Wheezed Yugi. "And I believe Seto feels the same way." Yami halted reluctantly to Yugi's request. "Fine. I guess we need a breather."  
"No kidding!" Huffed Seto exasperatedly. He took in deep gulps of air as he let his muscles relax from the intense running. Mokuba slid down to the ground off his brothers back as Seto let go.  
"Yami, what did you do to that guy to cause him to scream that brutally? That was atrocious!" Yugi shivered as the high-pitched scream repeated in his head. Yami looked at Yugi, letting him see a smile snake onto his face. Yami stood up straight and puffed out his chest at his victory over the 'wicked adversary'.  
"It was a very brave sacrifice but I had to do it." Yugi turned his head towards Seto. "What sacrifice?" Seto just shrugged his shoulders. Seeing they were no longer listening Yami interrupted them with a quick clear of his throat. "Sorry Yami." Yugi scratched the back of his head, a drip of sweat forming from embarrassment.  
"I picked up a handful of thorns and chucked them in to our foe's eyes. I'm pretty sure he's blind now." Yami finished with a smug smile of accomplishment.  
"That's all! I thought you had punished him and sent him to the shadow realm!" Yami's smiled faded off his face as he heard Yugi's disappointed words.  
"And was that or those thorns the sacrifice you where talking about?" Yugi couldn't help but laugh at his yami's weird attempts to kill off his enemy.  
"Well yah! Nothing deserves being used like that against something as cruel and as poisoning as he was. Even if it didn't move or breathe."  
"Or could have been." Laughed Yugi.  
"I could have done that." Seto stated as he blew a piece of hair out of his eyes.  
"Aawww, Seto. All you want is some attention." Snickered Yugi. He grabbed Seto by the face and pulled him down to meet his own. Seto started to blush furiously.  
"Nuggy!!!"  
"What?? Nooo!!!" Seto tried to pull away but Yugi had already gotten him in a headlock and even if Seto stood to his full height there was no way of throwing him off. Yugi buried his first into Seto's hair and rubbed his fist as fast as he could create friction. (Which is pretty fast) Seto squealed in pain. "Piggy! Piggy! Piggy!" Mokuba joined Yugi, bursting into laughter at his brother's painful squeals. If he laughed harder he'd probably wet himself. Yami stopped huffing at Yugi's cruel little joke to join in the fun of torturing Seto. He lunged his own fist into Seto's hair, rubbing as furiously as the other two. Seto wailed. Tears were starting to well up in his eyes. (Well wouldn't you. It hurts when three people give you a rash burning nuggy at the same time.) The tears poured down his cheeks. It was his first time he cried in...a long time. He never cried when he was little because he was not aloud. He would have been slapped but considering that was then and this was now he could cry all he wanted. It caused him to start hiccupping, which made him blush. This caused the hiccups to get worse.  
"Please stop! (Hic) My head (hic) is on (hic) fire!" Seto pleaded in a high-pitched voice. His hiccups came in between every second word that sputtered from his lips. Mokuba immediately stopped pounding on Seto's head as he heard Seto's pleading cries. The hiccups/sobs took Yugi aback as well. He stared at Seto with worry amounting in his eyes. Yami on the other hand heard them in a different way. Seto doesn't normally make these weird sounds and they enticed him to hear more. He thought it was funny. He also thought Seto was joking, just trying to get them off of him. So he continued with the same relentless force as before. Seto squealed, letting lose waves and waves of hiccups. He tried telling Yami to stop but his hiccups had took over completely and all he could say was 'hic.' Mokuba had never seen Seto this way and was very distressed by his brother's current condition. He got off Seto and looked at Yami. Considering Yugi had stopped a while ago and is in too much shock to stop his Yami, so Yami was the only one who was causing Seto so much distress.  
"Get off my brother!!!" Mokuba launched himself at Yami and caused the darker half so much fright that he slunk off back into the puzzle. Mokuba landed on the ground with his hands empty and his chest falling and rising hard.  
"Seto, you okay? I'm sorry if I hurt you! Please, please calm down. Seto?" Mokuba caressed his brother's back, trying to stop Seto from hiccupping. Yugi snapped out of his trance and looked at Kaiba.  
"I've never seen anyone get the hiccups because of pain before."  
"He's in distress Yugi! And he's crying! Crying!! Seto doesn't normally do that and we caused the pain. We made Seto cry!" Wailed Mokuba. Yugi cringed at Mokuba's words. "You seem to flip flop from various emotions Mokuba."  
"That's not the point!"  
"You did it again. Now you're angry."  
"Yugi! You normally don't act like this. You're supposed to care when someone is hurt."  
"You did it again."  
"Aaarrgh!!"  
"Stop it! (Hic) You're not (hic) supposed to (hic, hic) fight." Seto took a couple of breathers. The hiccups had slowed down a little but his face was blushed from the strain of trying not to hiccup. Mokuba and Yugi looked at each other. They blushed at the prospect of the two of them fighting.  
"Sorry Yugi. I guess you're entitled to have a little fun once in a while."  
"That's okay. Come on. Lets go find the others to tell them our news. Along the way we can get Seto some water."  
"(Hic) Sounds (hic) good." Mokuba and Yugi laughed at Seto's hiccups, seeing as they finally had time to realize the fact that it was Seto Kaiba's first time he got the hiccups. They calmed down and took Seto down the back alley and out of sight. 


	5. chapter 5

What Once Was is Again  
  
Diclaimer: I do not own any of the characters within Yugioh, minus Strawberry (who you will find out about in my fic). Said characters are also OOC. So live with it it's the way I write! Hehehe.  
  
Warning: there have been minor to extreme changes within the characters of Yugioh, but it is all interesting changes no less and makes for interesting reading I must say.  
  
"Darn! Where is everyone?" "You mean you don't know? Oh great! We're lost and I'm stuck with the dumbest person in the entire group!! You're hopeless!!" Noa turned around and threw a dirty Styrofoam cup at Joey. It hit Joey with a dull slap on the face.  
"Darn you Noa! It's not my fault you wanted to come with me and not stay behind with Seto!" Joey brushed off the dirt that was left on his nose by the plastic cup. They've been wandering the city for two hours and seemed to be at an end. The wind had slowly picked up and it chilled the two cranky teens' skin. The sky was darkened now with the slight glow of the sun behind the tallest buildings. The lamplights were their source of light now. Noa pulled his shirt tighter around him. He glanced about the half deserted street with weary eyes.  
"This is hopeless Joey. Lets give up our end of the search and retire home. I'm sure the others have found something. They'll come and find us if it's important." Noa walked over to a bus bench and parked himself on the cold stone. Joey looked over to him beaten. Joey was sore from walking too much and not to mention exhausted and cold. Joey dragged his feet over to Noa and looked down upon the shivering teen. He sighed. He didn't want to admit it but Noa was right. They had no chance of finding Ryou like this and night was coming up quick. The wind had gotten chilly and they both weren't prepared for it. It was going to be a long, restless night.  
"Yah, you're right. Come on Noa. Lets head back." Noa smiled. "Think of it this way Joey. We're going home to get rest, so we're fully restored for when the time comes to help Ryou. You can't help someone if you can't help yourself." He shivered with the slight pick up of the wind.  
"What ever Noa. All I know is we'll catch our death out here if we stay longer. Here, you can borrow my jacket until we get to my house. You need it more then I do." Joey slipped off his jacket and handed it over to Noa. Noa grabbed onto it and held it for a while as if he was going to refuse it. He just sighed and smiled. "Thanks Joey." He slipped the jacket on and closed it up.  
"No prob and besides, did you think it had fleas or something?" Noa looked at Joey with a fresh smile on his face and playfully pushed Joey. He then got off the bench and walked beside him. They only walked about ten paces when they picked up to a fierce howl. The sky grew black and lightening sparked from a hole growing bigger in the air. Otogi came sailing throw the portal. He landed on the ground with a light thud.  
"Yugi just found out where Ryou is being held." Noa and Joey switch glances to each other.  
"Looks like we ain't going to get that rest Noa."  
"Suddenly Joey I don't feel tired anymore." The two run over to where Otogi was standing. They grabbed hold of Otogi as the three jumped into the portal and vanished with a light clap of thunder.  
  
A searing white light flashed once, covering that area for a mere 2 seconds. Joey and Noa were thrown down onto the hard, cold pavement face first. Joey sat up, hair tousled from the ride they just had endured.  
"Ow. Warn me the next time you're going to do that Otogi. My breath was nearly knocked out of me." He huffed. Joey slowly climbed to his feet, waving his arms to steady himself from falling. When he believed he was steady enough to support other's weight he loaned Noa his hand and helped him up.  
"Thanks Joey." Noa dusted himself off. "So this is Ryou's old house." They stood before the house that once bore Ryou's family. This family only consisted of him and his dad but it was still considered a family. The house bore the sign of old age. It seemed to be weather beaten, for the paint was peeling off. The wood planks were being revealed. Joey gapped at the sight. "Wow."  
"No kidding. It seems this house is really and I mean REALLY old. Must have been like this when Ryou's father bought the place. Ryou's only been away from the house for so long and look how it turns out."  
"Looks like someone has beaten it with the ugly stick." Announced Joey.  
"It's an illusion." Otogi walked up and stood beside them. The wind swivelled around his face causing his hair to wave along side it.  
"How does he do that?"  
"By magic Joey! That was one of your really bad blonde moments."  
"Hey! I resent that!!" Grumbled Joey as Noa paced forward. He walked up the sidewalk and along side the house, passing his hand along the paint.  
"Otogi is right. The paint doesn't come loose under my fingers." Noa glanced at the house. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing formed on his lips. Instead he recoiled from the house as if his fingers were shocked by electricity.  
"What do we do now Otogi? Otogi?" He turns around to only see Joey standing by himself. His face turns to the form of displeasure. Joey, not knowing what's going on, only gives the look of 'what did I do now'. "God, I really hate it when he leaves us high and dry." "What!! He left us!!!" Joey whirls around in a desperate attempt to find Otogi. Knowing that Otogi is nowhere to be found Joey sits down on the curb. "What now?" "We wait for Otogi to return. My only guess is he's off to gather up the others and besides, may be we'll find something out for our selves while Otogi's out gallivanting." "You mean search the house?" "Why not?" "Ok! I'm game!!"  
  
"Is that better Seto?" Yugi handed Seto another cup of water. It had been a whole hour since they arrived at Yugi's Grandpa's game shop. They tried everything to help cure Seto's hiccups from the old never fail scare tactics to making him stand on his head while drinking a full glass of water. They seemed to have problems with that particular one. They were on edge until Seto finally calmed down. He seemed to have a suppressed fit of burps.  
"Remind me to burp him every once in a while." Mokuba snickered thinking his little joke was funny but didn't get the reply he was looking for. "Aw come on you guys! Live it up a bit. It was just a stupid little joke." He trails of, mumbling to himself. Yugi sighs, "It's kind of hard to do that Mokuba. Ryou is in trouble and we're sitting at home doing nothing. I just feel so helpless at the moment." Yugi gets up from the couch. He picks up Seto's empty glass and walks off into the kitchen. He sets the cup down in the sink and wanders of towards the window to look out.  
"Oh Ryou! I wish I could help you but I don't know what to do. I thought I did but I guess I'm no better then anyone else. I hope Otogi finds you soon."  
  
"THIS SUCKS!!!!" There's a resounding clap as a coke can hits the side of a building. A blonde haired boy walks over to where the can lays and steps on it with a mighty force, splitting the can in two.  
"If you shout loud enough we can gather a whole audience of people who would be dying for the chance to meet you. Oops! I meant to say beat you! Malik you can't scream like that. This neighbour hood isn't exactly voice friendly at a time like this."  
"What do you care anyways? I'm sure you would be dying to see a late night movie, especially if it has 3D effects." Malik scoured at Marik.  
"What would you know about 3D movies?"  
"What I do know is they suck! Live entertainment is much more exciting."  
"Your so old school. Bring your brain out of that old trash and in to the 21-century. You no longer live in the time were they barely had proper hygiene and were bad at everything else but war and famine. You live with me in the time of computers and machines. Where we have baths daily and have proper wars."  
"Is that any better?"  
"Well...not exactly."  
"And besides, I don't trust your machines. They have problems and anything can go wrong with them at anytime. Your machines will probably be your down fall."  
"What? How dare you make sense in my presence about my own time!" Marik and Malik glared at each other, growling silently under their breath. They came nose to nose about to go into death lock when a light flashed in front of their eyes.  
"Ahhhh!! My eyes!!" Marik fell backwards from the intensity of the flash. Malik just shields his eyes and grunted. Otogi appears in the middle of the light. He opens his eyes to view what's before him and immediately he snarls at the two before him.  
"How dare you to fight at a time like this! You're supposed to be looking for Ryou and look what I find! I find a yami and light bickering over the stupidest thing!! Well fortunately for you Ryou has been found. We're all gathering around the Bakura's old home. Are you coming?" Otogi turned his head back and forth between both Egyptians. Marik stands up and a sly grin slips across his face. Malik just nods in reply. Otogi smiles. "Then she's settled. Let's go." Otogi turns around and rips a hole in the air. He jumps through with ease, followed by Malik and Marik close behind. The tear closes up and vanishes into the night.  
  
It was darker in the house now that the sun had set a while ago. Shadows grew bigger and started to consume the rest of the house except one room. Ryou had his desk lamp on and his door shut. He was lying on his bed, crying silently. His hands were bandaged up from the previous lesson. Ryou placed his hands on a cold ice pack. He whimpered as the cold bit into his injured hands. He remembered how Bakura had laughed at him after he had placed his hands on the stove. He watched Ryou rip his hands out of his grip and fall to the floor convulsing. Ryou tried to stifle his tears because his yami would just beat him more if saw them. But of course nothing slipped past his yami. Bakura placed a well- aimed kick right for his chest. The force of the blow knocked Ryou into the counter causing him to lose his breath. Bakura just laughed at him and said he needed it, that weaklings needed to be toughened up and this was the only way to teach him. He then smiled wickedly at him and turned and left. His cold voice echoed through the house has he laughed harshly. Ryou closed his eyes at the memory and shuddered. He wiped away his tears so Bakura couldn't have another reason to come and beat him senseless.  
Ryou? Are you all right? Ryou jumped a little as he heard Strawberry speak to him through their link.  
/Oh! Yah. You just startled me Strawberry. I'm sorry I have you so worried. That's all I do is worry people. /  
Don't think like that Ryou. That's probably what Bakura wants you to think.   
/That I'm a burden on everyone's shoulders. / Ryou curled up into a ball under his blankets and started to shiver. Strawberry looked at his master with worry. Ryou griped his knees even harder when he heard the dull thump of feet coming towards his door. He sucked in his breath and tried not to make the slightest move. 'Maybe he'll just walk past my door. Oh god, please let him walk past my door and forget about me!' Ryou thought has the footsteps got closer. Strawberry sensed the insecurity in his master's thoughts. Ryou had enough suffering for one day. He took over his master's body and calmed himself. He made sure there was no fear to be felt through the link and in Ryou's body. He held his breath as the footsteps stopped at the door. 'Please just keep walking and leave your light alone for once.' There was a chilling silence for a couple of minutes and then the footstep pressed on to their own room. Bakura passed by and closed his own door to his room. The door left a resounding click down the hallway. Strawberry released his breath with a deep sigh of relief. The gods must have been on Ryou's side that time. He let Ryou take over again and reassured him that the danger has passed. Ryou poked his head out from his covers, his chocolate eyes quivering with tears. Ryou started to sob silently again.  
Ryou, what's wrong? Bakura spared you tonight. Why are you still crying?   
/He could have hurt you Strawberry. You were going to take my punishment and it would be my entire fault because I'm a weak stupid fool. /  
Don't think like that Ryou. I believe you have a strong will and are very brave to be able to put up with those underhanded tactics. He is the weak one.   
/Do you really think that Strawberry? /  
Of course I do, just think about it Ryou. People like him are always afraid and scared. They're the loneliest type of people you could every cross. He just can't admit it because he doesn't want to appear as a weak-minded fool in front of you.   
/Well I guess. It dose make sense if you think about it. But what could he be so afraid of? / Ryou sniffled a little as he started to feel a bit better.  
I'm not sure Ryou but we can find out. The more Ryou thought about it the stronger he felt. Ideas started to form in his mind and he felt like he wasn't what he thought he was. No, what his yami thought he was. He came to the conclusion that he was no burden on his friend's shoulders but that he was taking the burden off of their shoulder so that they didn't have to suffer the same fate he had to with his yami. He felt more responsible for keeping them safe from harm then him self. But his best conclusion of all made his stomach churn with joy. He was no longer the scared one, Bakura was. Ryou figured Bakura was afraid of being backed into a corner so as a result he fought back with brutality and force.  
"Bakura is afraid to be loved. He's afraid that I'll get to close too him and turn him soft. He refuses to know what love his because it must be new to him."  
What?   
/Strawberry, I'm not afraid anymore. There's no reason to be. The answer was right before my eyes all a long but I was too scared to realize it. Bakura was afraid of us! But we just have to work at him that's all. I think I can stand the beatings know if he puts up a fight. /  
I think you lost it Ryou.   
/He just wants to be saved. The signs were small but I can see them now. Strawberry? /  
Yes?   
/I'm going to save my yami. / 


	6. chapter 6

What Once Was is Again  
  
Diclaimer: I do not own any of the characters within Yugioh, minus Strawberry (who you will find out about in my fic). Said characters are also OOC. So live with it it's the way I write! Hehehe.  
  
Warning: there have been minor to extreme changes within the characters of Yugioh, but it is all interesting changes no less and makes for interesting reading I must say.  
  
Down the hall from Ryou's room a light turned off. Bakura sauntered back over to the wall where he had his ear pressed against earlier. He had willed himself to try and listen in on Strawberry and Ryou's conversation but he could only make out a few words in a sentence. This made it very hard for him to understand what they were saying. He pressed his ear to the wall again but this time there was only silence pressing against his ear and the slow creek of the floor under his feet. He wrinkled up his nose in a snarl and balled his fists. 'Damn!' thought Bakura as he banged his fist hard on the wall.  
"I can't make anything out! All I hear is Bakura this and Bakura that and I'm scared. What the hell are they planning"? Bakura lifted his fist from the wall leaving a little dent in the place where he had striked the wall. He paced his room, grumbling every once and awhile. He cursed under his breath when he thought about it more. What were they planning? Were they trying to make a run for it or were they thinking about fighting back? Bakura was broken out of his thoughts as some voices reached his ears. He stopped in his tracks and concentrated on the quite voices. Were they coming from Ryou's room? No, it sounded like it was coming from outside his window. He turned his head towards the window that stood slightly ajar. "I must have forgotten to close my window." Bakura wandered over to his window. He took a glance outside to see if he was right about the voices. His eyes widened for a pinch of a second and then returned too normal just as fast but the shock was replaced a sadistic glint. A smile snaked its way onto his lips. Ryou's friends were standing outside, talking to each other about something but there were only two of them. That dumb mutt and the greened haired look a like of Kaiba. Bakura leaned closer to the window to hear what they were speaking. He caught a few 'come on, let's go save Ryou' speeches and 'were the hell can we get in without using the front door' comments as well. Bakura leaned back with a wicked grin plastered on his face. 'So they want to try to get in and save Ryou from me. Well, I guess they're smarter then they look. If these two are here to 'save' Ryou then the rest of them must know too. But they aren't here yet. I wonder why. Oh well. I think I have a bit of fun with these two for a while.' Bakura snickered as he thought of things to do to the two friends of Ryou's. He was going to let them find a way into the house and then his fun could start. He walked away from the window laughing silently.  
"Let the fun begin."  
  
Joey stood there looking at the high window that stood slightly open. He cocked his head to the left and then to the right, trying to figure out a way to get up there. The rest of the windows were high up and closed or closed but could only be opened from the inside.  
"I guess I could look for a ladder." Joey mumbled to himself quietly. He glanced around to look for a shed. He crossed over the lawn and headed for the backyard. 'Maybe a shed is back here.' Thought Joey. As he entered the backyard all he could see was weeds, really tall weeds and grass, really tall grass.  
"What the hell? The grass in the front isn't this tall. Maybe it's all an illusion again. Yah that must be the reason but this grass could hide Kaiba!" "Joey!!!" Joey whirled around looking for the person who called his name. He noticed the grass moving off the side and Noa crawling out.  
"What's wrong Noa? Are there giant bugs in there too?"  
"No but the grass just suddenly started to growing and growing and growing." He went on for a bit about the whole grass growing issue. Joey nodded his head along with Noa to let him know he was listening but every once in awhile he would bend a bit to scratch his leg. "What's making my leg so damn itchy. God I hope it's not mosquitoes." Joey bent down again to scratch his leg some more and realised that grass was crawling up his leg.  
"Grass is crawling up my leg!!!" Joey pulled the grass out of his pant leg.  
"Holy shit! The rest of the grass is growing to the same height as the grass at the back." The grass grew so big that it practically swallowed them, so to speak.  
"Damn! Now we can't see anything."  
"What are you talking about Noa? Its just grass." Joey pushed the grass aside and made a little path back towards the front.  
  
"I found a window that is open on the side of the house. It's a little high so I was looking for a ladder so we could climb up there and get in. See." Joey pushed the grass aside again to reveal the window he was talking about.  
"That's great Joey but there's no shed so that means there is no ladder."  
"Well, can't we just go into the neighbour's yard and steal one."  
"Too much extra work. I found a better way to get in. Come with me." The green haired boy led Joey to the back again. He finally reached the backside of the house and stepped into a little crevice that had no grass. He pointed down to a small basement window.  
"Can I actually fit through that small window?"  
"I don't know! God! Why don't you just try it Joey." Joey gave him the ok look and bent down to the window. He pushed on it to see if it would open. It eased open under his fingertips as he pushed. Joey got on his hands and knees to look through it. He saw a few shapes in the basement but it was mostly dark down there. Joey took a gulp. "O.k. I'm going in head first." He pushed his head through threw the window and slowly eased his shoulders through. His shirt got caught on a lose nail as he tried to push him self through. He grunted a bit and started to scurry his feet on the dirt to try and give himself a shove. Noa shook his head at the dumb blonde.  
"Uh, Noa I think I'm stuck" Noa looked down at Joey. "Don't worry Joey. I'll help you." He smirked has he backed up to give himself legroom.  
"Go easy on me o.k. Noa."  
"All right." This was going to be fun thought Noa as he hefted his leg into the air. He swung with all his force and landed a boot on Joey's ass, sending him through the window to land face first on the cement floor. Noa earned himself an ow from Joey as he crawled through himself. He landed beside Joey and poked him with his foot. Joey sat up, rubbing his head. "That hurt! Why'd you kick me?"  
"It was to hard to resist, Joey and besides, your not suppose to go through head first you dumb ass." Noa laughed some more as Joey rubbed his but as he stood up.  
"Come on Wheeler. Bakura might have heard us. Let's get Ryou out of here as fast as we can." Noa walked slowly forward up the stairs towards the living room.  
"It's dark in here." Bakura watched as the two disappeared into his house. This was going to be more fun then he expected and not to mention it was going to be done in the dark, his favourite thing in the world. He stood up on the roof, leaving with the grin of the infamous Cheshire cat.  
  
Otogi was flying over the city with the Mariks in tow. "Where is everybody?" The two Egyptians looked at each other. /Otogi must be getting tired again Malik. I know. That's not a good thing. We should tell him to land before he wears out of magic completely. Malik broke the link off between him and his light. He turned his head towards Otogi, cupping his mouth with his hands. "Otogi!! We should land! On the ground! You're getting tired!!!!" Malik yelled into the wind. Otogi turned his head around to face the two Mariks. "What?" "You should slow down!!" Screamed Marik. "WHAT?" Otogi shook his head and gave them a confused look. Malik rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. "YOU. SHOULD. LAND. RIGHT. KNOW!!! Is it that so hard to hear?"  
"I should speed up?" Otogi shrugged and thought they were desperate to find the others and rescue Ryou. He was starting to feel weak but they were pressing him on so hard and were yelling at him. What were they yelling about? So he speed up, starting to get flustered.  
/Yami, he's speeding up! Tell him to stop because I think were dropping. / Malik looked down and saw that the ground look a little closer then it use to be. He yelled as hard as he could. "OTOGI!! STOP! PUT US DOWN!" Otogi only heard 'OTOGI, BLAH, BLAH, US, BLAH.' So he speed up some more. Malik felt the wind get stronger. He hollered on last time. "OTOGI STO...(choke)." Otogi was going so fast that the air had rushed down Yami Malik's throat making him choke on his words. Otogi burned through the air, his eyes roving over every piece of land that he could see. He was going ballistic. He thought the Mariks were pushing him to look harder and he was having trouble finding were Yugi had disappeared to so this frustrated him even more. He didn't even notice that his power was ebbing away quickly. It all happened so fast that they didn't even notice they were falling instead of flying. Otogi had finally reached his limit and just blacked out from over use. It basically hit him like a ton of bricks. The Mariks were now screaming their heads off.  
"I'm going to die young and sexy!" Cried Marik as he clung to his yami for dear life. Malik knew if he didn't do something fast they were all going to turn into flat bloody pancakes. He closed his eyes to concentrate, while holding onto a limp Otogi and a freaking out light. His eye of Horus shone brighter then it normally did as he concentrated all his shadow powers to take half of the impact. As he did this he formed a tight barrier around the three of them. They hit the ground with a big enough force to blow a hole in the street. Malik's shadow powers caused a black out through out half of Domino when it collided with the ground. The dust and debris finally settled to reveal three people sitting in a crater that caused the houses close by to go on a slant and tilt. They were all in a tight little bundle. The first one to get up was Marik. He was a bit wobbly on his fit from the impact. Marik looked down at his yami and Otogi. Otogi was still out cold and his yami was groaning with his eyes spinning from the huge use of power. (You know when they get swirls in their eyes when they get dizzy, that's what I'm talking about.)  
"Yami are you all right?" Malik shakes his head a little to try and wear off his light-headedness. He rolled Otogi off of his own body and hoisted himself up. He stumbled a bit but shook it off as he wiped the dust off of his clothes.  
"Yah. I'm all right. There's nothing in the world that feels as good as when you release a lot of pent up energy. Now I feel like a...what do you people say...a million bucks?"  
"I guess."  
"Then that's the one. See, I'll show you how good I feel." Malik did really fast back flips, continuously while singing some fast song. He ended then beside Marik with the biggest shit-eating grin.  
"Are you smiling at me with that shat-eating grin of yours?"  
"Yup! Why, can't to see it?"  
"Sort of, only because of your glowing forehead. It's completely dark now. It's got to be midnight or something."  
"Hey!!" Malik made a pouting face but the light from his sennen eye kind of warped it in the dark. Marik looked at his yami with one eyebrow cocked.  
"Don't do that in the dark please. Your sennen eye makes it look creepy. Lets get out of here. I can hear some people complaining about it being so dark and you really stand out in the dark. Your sennen eye is like a beacon." Malik ignored his aibou's comment and went over to pick up Otogi. He slung him over his shoulder and walked of into the night with his Marik trailing behind.  
  
"Yami are you coming. You're slowing us down." Yugi turned around to look at his darker half who had stopped to pet a cat. He came out after he had a little power nap and was sure Mokuba wasn't going to strangle him. Yugi shook his head at Yami. His could be so weird at times but who wasn't. This new world had done so many twists and turns his yami said that it basically made him sick. Whenever he saw a cat on the street he would go over to it and bow his head to it. Sometimes the cats would scream at him and run for their lives or they would just run for their lives. This made Yami sad and then he would start to speak in his ancient tongue for a bit then would return to Yugi's side. Yugi would just laugh and say that people are different know and not all of them love cats. Yugi himself didn't like cats. When he was younger his grandpa bought him a little kitten and gave it to him as a gift. It was so cuddle and cute that Yugi feel in love with it right away. He thought it was the sweetest little thing until one uneventful day. Yugi had returned home from school and went to go feed his cat. His grandpa wasn't home at the moment but at least Yugi had is cat to keep him company but boy, was he wrong. He found it playing with its little ball of yarn. Yugi went over to pet the kitten but it quickly turned on him, hissing and spitting. It lunged for his face and clung there, scaring the shit out of Yugi. Yugi screamed, running around with the cat on his face. He finally got it off by accidentally running into the wall and squishing the cat. It squealed and let go. Then Yugi heard the shop bells ringing. He raced over to his grandpa and glomped his leg. Tears were running down his face as he told his grandpa everything. His grandpa was shocked but reassured him that it probably thought he was going to take its ball away. Yugi nodded has his grandpa cleaned his face. But his grandpa was wrong. It kept on hurting Yugi and sometimes it would even jump Yugi for the surprise attack. It eventually attacked his grandpa by biting his finger. His grandpa didn't know what was wrong so he took Yugi into the kitchen to talk to him. The cat followed and hid on top of the fridge. His grandpa asked Yugi if he wanted to get rid of the cat and he quickly nodded yes. Out of nowhere Yugi saw the cat jump for his grandpa's head. He warned him about its ambush attack but it was to late. The kitten had landed on top of his head, hissing and spitting and pulling on his grandpa's eyelids. He remembered his grandpa's words clearly. 'I hate this freaking cat!' Yugi laughed at his grandpa's use of words. After that they got rid of the cat and lived with out animals thinking it was for the best.  
"I hate freaking cats. They're fircken psycho! Get it away from me!!" Seto's words pulled Yugi out of his memories. He looked over at Seto and started to laugh. Yami wanted Seto to pet it and praise it because he used to be a priest but Seto wasn't too happy about this. Yami threw the cat into Seto's arms and it landed on him, freaking out. As it landed it clawed Seto on the chest. "OW!!! Stupid beast!! It clawed my chest!!! Seto's reactions acted up and he grabbed the cat by the scruff and with out thinking hurled it off in to the night.  
"Seto!! That was so mean!! You killed that kitty." Whined Mokuba.  
"Yah, well, it clawed me!!" Yugi started laughing so hard that his face turned bright red.  
"Seto, you crack me up sometimes." Seto just stared at him with a pouty look that normally isn't seen on the multi-billionaire's face. They've been walking for a few hours. They had finally gotten rid of Seto's hiccups and decided to go back to the Bakura household. They weren't to worried about being seen anymore because it was dark know. They walked for a while longer talking about how they would rescue Ryou and if anyone else had made it there when Mokuba yelled out.  
"Look at that!! There's some light walking towards us off in the distant and it's floating all by its self!" Mokuba ran to Seto's leg and held on, hiding himself in Seto's jacket. They all looked in the direction where Mokuba had pointed to before and sure enough there was a glowing light walking towards them.  
"What is it?" Yugi looked at Yami. Yami was concentrating on the glowing light. He narrowed his eyes a bit. He gasped in shock as his puzzle started to glow and his sennen eye appeared on his forehead.  
"It's a millennium item!" Off in the distant another light appeared showing off the person who was walking towards them. It was Yami Malik and it looked like he was caring something. They heard someone mumble something to the other and then they heard a shout.  
"Hey Yugi!!!" It was Marik. He was running towards them, waving on arm.  
"It's only the Mariks. Hey, were is everyone else?" Yugi yelled back.  
"Otogi said Joey and Noa were at Ryou's house waiting for us but I don't know where Shaadi is. I haven't seen that ass ever since we started this search." Yugi nodded. "Come on. Lets go meet them." Yugi ran forward with the others following behind him. They reached the Mariks in no time flat. Yugi stopped and stared at Malik.  
"What did you do to Otogi?"  
"I saved his ass is what I did!"  
"What he means is Otogi wore him self out by flying to fast so now he's asleep." Marik pointed towards Otogi's face. There was a bit of drool dripping down his chin. Mokuba hearing that it was only the blonde Egyptians, he stepped out from underneath Seto's jacket. He looked at Otogi. "Eeww!! He's drooling."  
"What!" Malik dropped Otogi onto the ground in disgust. "Is there any drool on my cape? Well!!! Marik!!" Marik roles his eyes and shakes his head. "You're obsessed with that thing. Here let me have a look." Marik grabs the silky cape and inspects it.  
"Nope, none that I can see. So now you can pick Otogi up again instead of leaving him lie there on the ground."  
"Fine." Malik pulls out a cloth from his back pocket and ties it around Otogi's mouth then picks him up. "There that should suck up any drool that falls from his mouth."  
"Yami, you can be so stupid but you're my stupid fool."  
"You bet your ass I am." Malik slaps Marik on the ass in a playful manner but it was still really hard.  
"Ow! That hurt!" Malik just laughed and walked ahead of the rest, leaving them in the dark.  
"Come on. He's our only source of light." Marik muttered while rubbing his butt. He fallowed after his yami and the rest trailed along behind watching their steps. And every once in a while Malik would slip back and trip Yami causing him to fall on his face. He would then laugh hysterically while he would run from Yami who was so pissed his sennen eye started to glow. They kept this playful attitude for the rest of the way to Ryou's. 


	7. chapter 7

What Once Was is Again  
  
Diclaimer: I do not own any of the characters within Yugioh, minus Strawberry (who you will find out about in my fic). Said characters are also OOC. So live with it it's the way I write! Hehehe.  
  
Warning: there have been minor to extreme changes within the characters of Yugioh, but it is all interesting changes no less and makes for interesting reading I must say.  
  
Bakura slunk back into his room and out through his door. He could her the mongrel and Kaiba look a like come up from the basement. They weren't that quite. He could hear Joey curse has he stubbed his toe on something downstairs. He laughed to himself silently, stopping at the top of the stairs. His eyes glinted with malice. This was going to be so much fun. He crouched down low against the carpet and blended himself into the darkness. He would wait for his prey to get closer to the stairs before he pounced. They would never expect it coming. Down stairs Noa had elbowed Joey in the side to shut him up.  
"Be quiet Joey. Bakura is in the house. This is his house remember."  
"I know Noa but it hurt. I can't see anything in the bloody dark."  
"Just hold on to my shirt. I lead us up stairs ok." This was just what Bakura wanted. It made him smile even more. Noa crept closer and closer to the stairs, hands out stretched to grab anything in front of him. His foot finally bumped into the bottom step. Bakura shivered. They were so close it made his fingertips itch.  
"Okay Joey, I made it to the stairs now it's your turn. You can go ahead of me."  
"What? You chicken! That's not cool."  
"I'm not a chicken! It's just I have a bad feeling, you know?"  
"Fine! Move out of my way." In Joey's anger he caught his foot a little bit on the stair causing him to stumble forward. Noa covered his mouth with his hand and snickered into it. Joey snorted, straightening out his clothes and continued to climb the staircase. They came to the landing pad below Bakura and stood there for a bit. Bakura's eyes flashed as he saw how close they were. Noa saw the small glint and shrunk behind Joey. Joey had blinked when the glint had flashed so he didn't get a glimpse of it.  
"There's nothing to be afraid of Noa. That dumb ass yami must be hiding in his ugly ring. So you can stop hiding behind me."  
"Don't say that Joey. I think I saw something shine in the dark." Bakura stopped grinning as soon as Joey had said that. He snarled, wrinkling his nose in ill will. That dumb dog was going to feel cold metal on his flesh as soon as he was in reach. Joey looked up at the top of the staircase and took a giant gulp. Okay, here I go thought Joey has he pressed on up the staircase. He did one step at a time. Joey started to whisper, calling for Ryou as he neared the top. He had only four more steps to go. He climbed up two more but he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes had adjusted to the dark a bit and now he could see something up there. This made Noa weary. Something loomed up from the floor and scared the piss out of Joey. He saw a glint of gold dangle in the air and as quickly has he seen it hang there it disappeared and reappeared as a flash right in front of him. As soon as it disappeared again he felt a searing pain in his chest. Laughing could be heard in the distant but Joey was in shock from the pain in his chest. The force of the blow knocked him back and he screamed. His back hit Noa and they tumbled down the stairs. Joey knocked Noa against the wall really hard causing him to lose his breath and bang his head hard against it. Noa slumped to the floor unconscious. Joey continued to fall until he landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Bakura continued to laugh. He descended the stairs to wreak more havoc on his victims.  
  
Ryou was gathering up his courage when he heard a wail come from the staircase and someone falling. Following the scream he heard a chilling laugh. Ryou's heart skipped a beat. Someone was in the house and Bakura was attacking him.  
"Strawberry! That sounded like Joey! My friends are in the house and Bakura's with them!! I didn't hear him walk past my door!" Ryou was freaking out. He was losing his cool fast and was becoming scared again. Strawberry separated from Ryou and looked at his master.  
"Calm down Ryou. I heard it to but getting all worked up about it isn't going to help anyone. Your yami could be playing a trick on you. He probably just wants you to come running out so he could jump you and do god knows what."  
"Your right Strawberry but we should go check it out just to make sure." Ryou walked slowly to his door and made to open it when Strawberry grabbed his arm.  
"Ryou wait. I want to go down in your place. You can stay in your soul room for now until its safe. I don't want Bakura to take his wrath out on you."  
"No Strawberry. I have to face my yami. If I don't I'll never be brave enough to face him. Lets not give him the pleasure to see me hiding or afraid." Strawberry let go of his arm and nodded in acceptance. Another scream broke their silent stares. Now they could hear pleading and angry shouts. Ripping noises came up to meet their ears and more painful screams followed. Bakura's laughing reached Ryou's room.  
"There's two people now! I think Bakura isn't faking Strawberry."  
"I think your right Ryou. I hear a Kaiba's voice down there."  
"Come on Strawberry! Bakura is torturing my friends!!" Ryou opened his door silently and slunk out of his room. Strawberry floated behind him. Ryou approached the top of the stairs. He could hear the screams very clearly and one belonged to Joey. There was a small whimpering further away from the stairs. Strawberry wrinkled up his nose and growled.  
"Ryou, I can smell blood every where. Bakura must be mangling one of them and just playing with the other one."  
"Can you smell whose blood is all over the house?"  
"I can't. I'm sorry."  
"Don't be. I'm going down there and I'm going to face my yami. I just have too." Strawberry never answered. He saw a slight movement close by. He floated down passed Ryou and went straight for the person that was moving. Ryou ran after him.  
"Strawberry where are you?" whispered Ryou.  
"Over here. I found on of your friends." Ryou raced over to where Strawberry was standing. He saw someone lying on the floor. More noises came from the basement. Sounded like things were being smashed. Ryou could hear Bakura talking to someone and it sounded like Joey when the other person screamed. More noises came and a flash of light lit up the house. Ryou saw Noa lying on the ground moaning. His head was bleeding badly and there were a few badly place cuts on his body but other then that he didn't look like he was in bad shape. He was going to make it. The light went out and it was silent for a while. Ryou bent down and whispered into Noa's ear. "Noa, can you hear me?" Noa answered him which made Ryou's heart jump in joy. "Yes I'm still living. But I hurt all over. Where's Joey?"  
"Ryou's heart sank again. "Don't worry about him o.k. I'll find Joey. You're going to be all right." Noa laughed a bit. "That's funny cause we came to help you but instead you're helping us." Ryou nodded and turned to Strawberry. "Watch him for me please." Ryou headed for the basement. He took a deep breath and descended the stairs quietly. As he entered the basement he could hear light breathing. He saw a silhouetted figure standing near a lumpy form. That must be my yami thought Ryou. Ryou walked over the light switch and held his finger over it. 'Here I go. Calm yourself Ryou. He won't attack you. Okay, well maybe he will but you can't show any fear. Be strong.'  
"Yami?" His voice echoed through the silence. It made it sound eerie. The figure that was standing turned around and looked straight at Ryou. It made his heart pound harder. Ryou could see his yami's cold, ruthless eyes staring at him. They seemed to bite into his soul. Ryou shook it off.  
"It's okay Bakura. I'm not going to hurt you. No one is. Just calm down and listen to me." A could sharp laugh answered Ryou. Ryou couldn't stand it anymore. He flipped the switch. What meet Ryou's eyes made him look paler then he already was. There was his yami standing there in a pile of blood that was slowly crawling across the cement floor. His yami was covered with Joey's blood from head to toe. The blood that was plastered on the ring stained his shirt and some of the blood ended up on his face. His hands were covered with the red substance and his jeans had blotches of blood here and there. And there was Joey, lying in his own blood. His body was basically torn. It was hard to tell were he was bleeding from. He was basically bleeding from every place in his body. Was he dead yet? Ryou looked at his yami with disgust. His yami just laughed.  
"Why Bakura? Why did you hurt him?"  
"HAH!! What a dumb question. Can't you figure it out for yourself, you stupid tool." Bakura's response basically slapped Ryou in the face. He pulled back a bit but remembered that his yami was just lost so he pressed forward.  
"I guess that was a dumb question." Bakura just nodded with his Cheshire cat grin spreading across his face.  
"Please yami just stop before they hurt you." Again Bakura laughed.  
"What are you talking about you little whelp? Who's going to hurt me? Are you going to hurt me? His he going to hurt me?" Bakura pointed down at the motionless Joey. He titled his head back and belted out more crude laughs. Ryou took some more steps closer to his yami.  
"Don't laugh Bakura. Anything can happen to you too. I can decide to kill myself and let you become locked up in your ring for another thousand years or I can hand the ring over to Otogi and let him set you free." Bakura stopped laughing. This seemed to piss him off and Ryou knew he had angered his dark half.  
"Don't you dare threaten me you little ass!" Bakura blasted Ryou into the cement wall causing the smaller boy to scream. Ryou slumped to the floor. Bakura smirked and was about to say something when Ryou got back to his feet. He stopped and looked at him with hate.  
"I'm not afraid of you anymore Bakura. Do all you want to me but I'm not going to curl up in fear and beg for you to stop. This is between me and you so leave my friends out of this." With that Ryou charged his yami, catching him off guard. He knocked his yami to the ground and punched him right in the face.  
"I'm so sorry Yami but you leave me no other choice. You've backed me up into a corner and now the only way out is through you." Tears fell down Ryou's cheeks as he continued his assault on his yami. Ryou punched anything he could. He nailed his yami in the chest causing him to gasp. Bakura was shocked that his light was trying to beat him up but fear grew up and took over. He grabbed Ryou's arms shocking the boy and threw him off of himself. Ryou landed with a dull slap in Joey's blood. Bakura jumped on Ryou causing the two too slide a bit across the floor. Bakura grabbed his ring and started to slash at Ryou causing the boy so scream in pain. More blood was shed that night and only more was going to fall.  
  
They finally reached Ryou's house. It felt awkward to stand outside of this dark house. The two yamis were just laughing and playing until they felt the surge of shadow magic shot through the air. They stopped dead in their tracks, their faces becoming solemn. But being the ass he was Malik got in one last shove before they became truly serious. Yami fell over with the impact because he wasn't expecting it. He stood up, nostrils flaring, eyes about to pop out of his head. "What was that for you idiot?" Malik just put a hand in the pharaoh's face and told him to be quiet. Something had grabbed his attention.  
"Can you smell that? It's blood. Someone is dying." Yami calmed down and looked at the house. "Yes I can. Come one someone needs our help."  
"Wait you dumb ass! You can't just charge in there. You could be ambushed. You have to slink in there stealthily. That always works." The two yamis started to bicker about who was right and what tactic they should use.  
"Are you two coming?" Mokuba poked his head out of the door. The two looked at each other dumb founded. They both raced towards the door trying to get in. they got stuck have way and started to bitch slap each other. Being the bigger one Malik bitch slapped harder and knocked Yami back, giving him room to run threw the door. Yami followed behind, rubbing his face. It was dark in the house but Malik's sennen eye gave the room an eerie glow.  
"Who's there?" A voice from the living room echoed threw the doorway. In the back they could here someone screaming and dull thumps. Malik put his hand over his nose. The smell of blood was thick in the air. Yami almost gagged. The group slowly entered the room with caution. They stopped when they saw a figure standing across the room from them.  
"Who's there?" Came the voice again. Seto looked around for the light switch, feeling along the wall. He found it and flicked it on. Everyone hissed and covered their eyes from the bright light.  
"Much better." Stated Seto. Strawberry drew his hand away from his eyes and looked at them. His gold eyes expressed so many emotions they could tell what he was feeling. "You guys finally came to help Ryou. Took you long enough!" Strawberry noticed his master slumped over Malik's shoulder.  
"Sensei!!!" Strawberry raced over to Otogi and snagged him from Malik. Malik have him the sarcastic 'you're welcome look.' Strawberry took of the drool gag and laid Otogi on a chair next to Noa. Mokuba saw Noa lying on the couch all bloody and bruised. He seemed to be asleep.  
"Noa!!" Mokuba ran over to Noa's side and hugged him. Mokuba was crying on Noa's shoulder when Seto walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.  
"He'll be all right Mokuba. It seems that any major wound was bandaged up." Mokuba sniffled and clung to Seto's arm. A little light interrupted the little scene between the two. They turned to face it. Strawberry had given Otogi most of his strength.  
"What are you stiffs waiting for? Go help Ryou!!" With that they all raced to the basement were they could hear screams of agony and smell a thick scent of blood. Seto made Mokuba stay with Noa and followed quickly behind. 


	8. chapter 8

What Once Was is Again  
  
Diclaimer: I do not own any of the characters within Yugioh, minus Strawberry (who you will find out about in my fic). Said characters are also OOC. So live with it it's the way I write! Hehehe.  
  
Warning: there have been minor to extreme changes within the characters of Yugioh, but it is all interesting changes no less and makes for interesting reading I must say.  
  
As they entered the basement they were meet with a terrible sight. Blood was everywhere and there was Joey lying in it. He seemed to be dead because they saw no movement come from him. Then the noises of two struggling people caught their attention. Ryou was going head to head with his yami. Ryou was bleeding like heck and his yami was covered in blood or was bleeding, they couldn't tell. Marik was the first to move.  
"Ryou!!!!" His scream caught the attention of both the dark and the light. Ryou stood in his place, petrified but Bakura snarled. He had enough of these friends of Ryou's. He lunged forward for Marik making him stop dead in his tracks. A blur flew past Marik and a short wave of shadow magic shot threw the room. Bakura was sent flying into the wall causing it to crack under the pressure. He fell to the floor with a dull thump. Malik stood there with his rod pulled out and his sennen eye shining brightly. His eyes were squinted at Bakura and the bridge of his nose was brought up in a wrinkle.  
"No one hurts my aibou." His voice dripped like poison as he spoke to Bakura. Marik continued to run over to Ryou, seeing that he could now. He glomped the stiff white haired boy who caused Ryou to break out of his daze and looked at him.  
"Ma...Marik!! What are you doing here?"  
"We came to help you Ryou. I'm sorry I didn't notice along time ago that you were in trouble. I should have known."  
"Don't feel sorry. There's no time too. We have to help Joey!" Marik looked at Joey who lied lifelessly on the floor. He nodded to Ryou and they walked over to pick up Joey. Ryou looked at the rest of them who stood there shocked. "Come help us pick up Joey." They all nodded and moved towards Joey.  
"Don't you dare move an inch!" Bakura climbed back onto his feet. He lifted his head to stare at them. His eyes had a deranged look in them. Yami stepped forward to face Bakura. "You guys go help Joey me and Malik will take care of him." The yamis glared at Bakura. Bakura only backed up into the wall, facing them. His ring glinted in the light. Then it happened just like that. Malik made the first move and lunged for Bakura's throat drawing out his dagger. They clashed with a mighty force that caused the others to fall over. The two evil yamis were at each other's throats. Blood flew like rain and then Yami joined in the fray. They were going at Bakura with a force that threatened to rip the house apart. Ryou heard Bakura scream but forced him self to ignore it. They picked up Joey and carried him over to the stairs. Another surge of power belted past them throwing them against the steps hard. The yamis had blown each other away. Malik and Yami stared at Bakura. They didn't move until their lights got up the stairs with the others. They put up a shield to block Bakura from getting to them. Bakura stood up and glared furiously. His ring glowed and blasted energy at the other two. His power caused the lights in the house to blow and the others screamed as glass rained on them. The house shuddered and groaned under the power. Otogi's eyes shot open as he felt the blast run over his body. He sat up and looked around him. He spotted Strawberry sitting next to him with worry written over his face.  
"This house is going to come apart!" Otogi hollered as he jumped out of the chair. He spotted Yugi and the others walk up the stairs into the living room. He ran over to them and pulled them near the couch. "Grab onto this couch and don't let go!" Otogi closed his eyes and started to chant. A blinding light appeared as they disappeared into a vortex. They reappeared outside at a distance from the house. Otogi grabbed Joey from they others and started his work at healing him. The others just stared in the direction of Ryou's house.  
"What do you thinks going on in there?" Marik looked at Ryou. Ryou looked terrible. His hair was matted with blood that had fallen from an open wound or something. His clothes were filthy and also covered with the red substance. It was like a massacre in there no more like a blood bath. No one answered Marik's question. They all just stared solemnly towards the trembling house. Eventually Otogi came and took hold of Ryou's arm, leading him away from the rest. He needed some care as well. Ryou just followed along without a fuss. He was just too tired from everything that had happened. He just wanted to rest. He collapsed beside Otogi, pulling Otogi down a bit with his weight. Otogi still grasping his arm pulled him up and laid him on his back. He looked Ryou over. He seemed to be okay; just tired that's all.  
"That's it Ryou. You can take a break now. Nothings going to happen to you anymore." Otogi placed his hands on Ryou's chest causing him to glow an earthly colour. He did this for a few minutes then took his hands away. Ryou had no more cuts or wounds on him. The blood that had been spilt early only remained. A sudden explosion erupted in the silence. A huge blast of light burst through the sky, lighting up Domino city. It shook the ground like an immense earthquake causing the others to lose their balance. They looked towards Ryou's house, shielding their eyes from the enormous light. Yugi got up onto his feet. His face went as white as a sheet. He wandered forward for a little and then stopped to whisper to no one in particular but himself. "Yami, what happened to you?" And then a huge burst of energy swept them all into the air.  
  
The yamis were going head to head in the basement of the Bakura household. Dirt and plaster were falling on top in huge chunks. The walls were creaking and groaning under their immense amount of power. It was getting harder for them to fight under these conditions. Malik and Yami were trying to get Bakura out of the house but all he did was continuously strike, one after the other. He had placed himself in front of the two yamis, separating them from the stairs. They tried to through him aside but were only blasted back into the wall, causing the house to shift and sway. Yami had enough of this horsing around. Bakura was pissing him off so much it was getting harder to control his own power. If he let his power take control he would end up like Bakura, a mindless maniac. He stared into Bakura's eyes and saw nothing there but hatred and fear. Bakura had long since lost control of his ability to stay cool and was now attacking with no knowledge or tactics. He was now just using brute strength. Yami also feared on continuing this pointless battle in the fact that someone outside could get severely hurt, most likely his friend and aibou. Malik also had enough of Bakura but didn't care what would happen if he attacked. He just wanted out of this cement dungeon. It was starting to drive him nuts. All he needed was space to finish Bakura off and cool down a bit. He now just needed to get outside and the only way out was through Bakura. Malik looked at Yami for reassurance. The darker side of Yugi wanted out as well but was wearier. He nodded his head in agreement and the both lurched forward in a last attempt to get out. Bakura saw this and felt that he had no choice but to protect himself. He held up his ring and meets them dead on in and in an ear splitting explosion. Their power collided with each other and caused a big bang. It blew the house apart sending it flying everywhere and themselves along with it. The explosion disintegrated the next four blocks and caused others to shatter. Houses at a further proximity were only flattened but further away received minor damages, like roofs blowing off and walls collapsing inwards. This blew out all the electricity in the city causing a major black out. People on the other side of the city could see the eruption clearly and were all scarred shitless. They thought it was a terrorist attack. They panicked thinking it was the end for them and it caused a riot. Things only got worse from there for normal people. Screams could be heard faintly in the distant as Otogi lifted his head. A moan escaped his lips as he felt a terrible pain in his back. He reached behind himself and pulled out a bar that had been sticking out of the rubble. He seemed lucky enough not to have been impaled on it. Otogi grabbed on to a pile of bricks and house and hauled himself up into a standing position. He looked around himself and found that he had been lucky enough, again, that he was outside and not under anything. Nothing seemed to be broken so he healed himself so he could find everyone else. Otogi jumped down from the pile of broken down house and glanced around. Everything was torn up and looked nothing like before all this happened. It went on for miles it looked like. He could hear people panicking in the distance. Those poor fools thought Otogi. They didn't deserve this. As Otogi kept wandering a slow movement caught his eye. A little moan crept up to his ear. 'The person must be alive.' Thought Otogi as he ran to were he heard the voice. He saw a white head poking out from underneath something. It looked like a tub but he wasn't to sure. He looked at the person. Could it be Ryou? He then spotted a ponytail on the back of the head. It was Strawberry. He must have taken over Ryou's body to spare the poor boy. Otogi bent down and pushed the hair out of Strawberry's face.  
"Strawberry, are you all right?"  
"I'm still moving you ass hole. Help get this thing of off me. I think it's crushing my back." Otogi nodded and grabbed on to the object. He pulled and lifted it into the air, tossing it aside to land in another junk pile. He helped Strawberry to his feet.  
"Thanks. Can you sense anyone through all this trash?"  
"Let me see." Otogi closed his eyes and concentrated hard. He jolted a bit and his eyes flew open. "There are small amounts of energy coming from somewhere over there. Come on." Otogi jumped over the so-called building with Strawberry following behind slowly. He stopped at a pile of debris and started to dig.  
"I can feel it get stronger. Is anyone under there?" A faint yes answered him. He dug faster to relieve who ever were under there from the pressure. He finally hit a hole; it seemed to be an air pocket. Lavender eyes meet his emerald green. Yugi poked his head out of the hole. He seemed to be okay.  
"Joey's under here with me. He somehow ended up beside me. I guess I was blown towards him." Yugi was so relieved he wasn't dead. He tried to pull himself out but something burned inside of him and his whole body began to ache. He fell back with a painful yelp.  
"Yugi!! What's wrong?"  
"I...I don't know! It hurts to move." Otogi started to dig some more. Strawberry lent a hand this time as he had finally made it to where Otogi stood.  
"Don't worry Yugi. We'll dig you out. Can you check and see if Joey is still alive for me."  
"I...I can hear breathing. I don't know if his hurt though. He must be unconscious." Otogi had made a big enough hole to see Yugi clearly. He was a mess. His head was bleeding slightly and his body seemed rattled. Something must have been broken cause he seemed to be having a hard time moving. Otogi reached in and grabbed his body.  
"This may hurt Yugi so hold onto me." He lifted Yugi up into his arms. Yugi screamed and began to shudder in Otogi's arms. Something had to be broken. Maybe a couple of ribs but this could be bad because one of his organs could have been punctured. They had to watch Yugi carefully.  
"It...it...hurts!" Otogi placed him on the ground. Yugi whimpered from the pain but put on a tough face. He didn't want to be seen as a total wimp. "Get Joey out and see if he's alright. Please? He's my best friend and I don't want him to die."  
"Hold still Yugi. I'm going to heal you." Otogi bent over and started his progress on Yugi. Strawberry went into the hole and down into the basement to retrieve Joey. A few minutes' later Joeys head poked through the hole and you could hear Strawberry grunting under the blonde teens weight. After finishing with Yugi, Otogi hauled him out and placed him on the ground beside the little guy. Strawberry crawled out the hole and landed on the ground panting.  
"God that kid is heavy!" Strawberry crawled over to where Yugi and Joey sat. He rested beside them for a minute to catch his breath. He looked down at Yugi, pondering something but shook his head as if he shouldn't have thought of what ever had crossed his mind. He eventually clambered to his feet and rejoined Otogi.  
"You stay here with Joey, Yugi. Strawberry and me are of to see if the others are still alive. We'll try not to be long but just in case I don't want you to move all right?"  
"Okay. I'll stay put but do you think my yami is still out there?"  
"Its possible Yugi. He is a spirit after all." Otogi turned and wandered of in some direction, searching for any other signs of life. Strawberry walked off in another direction leaving Yugi with Joey to think things over. Yugi sighed and looked towards the sky, noticing that there was a slight hint of the sun rising, slowly revealing the damage that had been caused from the battle. Yugi smiled as he waited for it to soon be dawn and that the dreadful night would be over.  
  
Marik coughed out loud as he regained consciousness. His head felt like it was going to split open from the dull pain thumping away hard against his skull. He opened his eyes slowly to try and slow down the pain. It didn't seem to work. He brought his hand up to brush his hair out of his eyes. His arm didn't seem to be broken, let alone the fact that his body ached all over. He brought himself up to a sit and checked himself. Nope, nothing was broken but he was bleeding from various spots and he was sure he would get major bruises from this. He sluggishly pulled himself to a stand. His legs still worked and didn't collapse out from under him. He just seemed a little unstable at the moment. Marik looked around himself. His eyes widened in shock causing his pupils to shrink. Everything was basically demolished in this proximity.  
"Holy crap! How did I survive that blast? Must be luck. I wonder if anyone else survived it? Wait!! My yami was right in the middle of it!!! Where could he be? YAMI!!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!!!! ANSWER ME!! PLEASE ANSWER!!! Oh please be all right." Marik stumbled around dumbly for a while. He couldn't believe what happened here. He was walking blindly forward until his foot got caught on something causing him to trip and fall to the ground. He landed with a dull thump and let a groan escape from his lips. He looked down to see what had tripped and all most screamed at what meet his lilac eyes. Instead he swallowed it with a hard gulp and sat up to touch it. It was a leg sticking out from underneath of what could only be described as a big piece of cement.  
"Who is that? Oh Ra I hope he's still alive but I highly doubt it. That shoe looks like Noa's. Oh, wait that is Noa's. Oooooohhhhh shit!" Marik scrambled to his feet to see if he could fine Noa on the other side but there was only a pile of rubble there. He considered his facts and started to dig. Maybe the rock had only landed on Noa's leg or legs. There still could be a slight chance that Noa wasn't crushed under there but it was very slim. Marik's body started to ache all over again as he continued to try and free the green haired Kaiba. His fingers were digging through dirt and grit for some time until he hit a soft green tuft of hair. His eyes lighted up with joy. He practically did a back flip with joy that he had reach Noa's head. He actually found Noa. He stopped in his marvelling and continued to plough through the ground to reveal Noa's face.  
"Yes!!" Marik jumped up in the air but came down with a little yelp and rubbed his back. "Damn body." He resumed on in tunnelling Noa out of his early grave. The tanned blonde succeeded pulling out the whole body except for the legs, which were stuck under the boulder. Marik then noticed Noa was lying in a pool of his own blood.  
"Crap! How long has he been bleeding like this?" Marik placed his ear over the wealthy boy's mouth to try and hear if he was still breathing. A small breath of air ran over his ear. It was slight but it was still there. Noa still had a chance to live but Marik didn't know how long that would last.  
"I'm not strong enough to move that stupid piece of crud. If I pushed on it, it would probably crush the rest of his legs. I wish my yami were here. Maybe there's a chance Otogi can hear me." With that Marik started to scream out Otogi's name out loud and in his mind. Otogi was wandering around, pushing rocks aside when he heard his name being called out. 'Someone else is moving around? Oh thank god!' Otogi dashed of towards the voice he heard calling out to him. He rounded a bend and almost ran smack into Marik.  
"Holy crap!! Could you watch were you're running!!"  
"Marik, you're walking! You're also bleeding from vital spots!"  
"I don't care right now. Lift that boulder off of Noa's legs. He needs attention right away or he'll be gone forever!" Otogi finally noticed the other blood that was now leaking out from under the heap of stone, wall and wood. He braced him self and pointed towards the boulder that was lying on Noa's legs. There was a slight shudder through the ground but the boulder slowly raised into the brightening sky. Otogi placed it beside them and then rushed over to Noa's aid. The boy was in bad shape before all this so none of it helped his condition. He was now considered to be in intensive care but Otogi leaned over and placed his hands on the kid's severely damaged legs. The was a sick cracking noise, a few popping sounds here and there then a bright light glowed around Noa. He seemed to be fine afterwards but still he didn't move.  
"He's all healed now but still weak from the great amount of blood he lost. It should be awhile before he opens his eyes. Lets hope he can recuperate quickly from all this." Otogi turned to eye Marik. Marik just looked at him with a blank look.  
"What?"  
"Come here so I can fix you up before you faint from the loss of blood." Marik walked over to Otogi now realizing how tired his body seemed to be. He slumped next to Otogi and leaned against him for support. Otogi did the same thing to Marik as he had done to Noa. Marik felt his wounds close together. He made a gagging noise at how gross it felt.  
"The next time you do that to me make sure I'm out cold." Otogi only laughed for the first time in awhile. The situation with Bakura had been a tough one and it sure did drag on. Sleep was slowly creeping over his body once more but he had other things to do. Otogi stood up and glanced around him some more.  
"We've found you, Noa, Yugi, Joey and Strawberry has Ryou safe. That leaves the other two Kaiba brothers, Yami, Malik and.... Bakura." Marik peeked down at the ground with a grave expression mounting on his face. Otogi patted him on the head but heard Strawberry's voice call over to him.  
  
"Otogi, I've found a piece of Kaiba's jacket! He must be nearby." The distant voice ended silently and the soft grind of cement could be heard. Otogi answered back. "I'll be right there Strawberry. Come on Marik. Pick up Noa and help me look for the ones that are left." Marik nodded and picked up Noa and slung him over his shoulder. They wandered off in the direction where Strawberry had shouted. They reached him in a short time and looked at the material that he was holding in his hand. Sure enough it had come from Seto's trench coat. So somewhere in the mess were Kaiba and maybe his brother. Strawberry sniffed the piece of clothing and then smelled the air. Strawberry's actions made Marik quirk his eyebrow.  
"Is he a bloodhound or something?"  
"He's trying to find Kaiba's energy or trade mark scent. Do you have anything Strawberry?" Strawberry's nose wrinkled and he turned to look at Otogi.  
"I think I've found him but it's hard to make out. The smell is very weak."  
"Show us the direction Strawberry." Strawberry nodded and took off in the direction he believed Seto was. Otogi and Marik followed after him, hoping that the Kaiba brother's were still alive.  
  
Seto was jostled out of unconsciousness by the sound of desperate cries. He slowly opened his eyes and a quiet moan escaped from his lips. He couldn't quite remember what had happened to them earlier and he had no clue where he was. Everything looked unnatural to him. He turned his head painfully to the side to try and get a glimpse of his surroundings. All he saw though was just huge piles of cement and dirt. A few metal things protruded out from underneath all of the rubble but that was all. Where was everyone? Where they still alive? He shut his eyes to try to remember what had happened. He remembered that there was a terrible noise and a huge flash of light. He then jumped to the side and had grabbed Mokuba to protect his little brother from the horrible power. He had placed himself between the blast and Mokuba, shielding his brother with his body. The rest had happened so quickly that it was all a blur to him. His heart stopped beating from what he had remembered. Mokuba, where was he now? Seto then heard the crying pleas again and was brought back to reality. He couldn't make out what it was saying but his heart began to race as he realized they sounded like his little brother. Seto's eyes shot open and a panicked look resided in his icy blue eyes. Seto started to call his brothers name trying to find where he was.  
"Mokuba!! Where are you? Mokuba! Mokuba!!!" His heart pounded in his ears. It felt like his insides were twisting and writhing from the suspense. Seto started shaking uncontrollably. He couldn't hear the cries anymore and it felt like his head was going to split in two. His body was now in terrible pain from the strain he was causing it. He felt like he was going to cry. Little arms wrapped around his chest and he felt hands clasp his sides. He could hear whimpering and soft crying. "It's okay Seto. Don't be afraid, I'm right here." Mokuba looked up at his brother's face. The panicked look had subsided a little and Seto's body had stopped shaking underneath him. He's chest was now rising and falling hard. Raspy gasps escaped his elder brother's lips. Tears were still falling from Mokuba's eyes as he stared at his brother's form. Seto was in bad shape and it was all because he had to save Mokuba.  
"Calm down Seto. You're hurt badly. I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore."  
"Are you alright, Mokuba? I have to know! Tell me if anything's hurt." Mokuba hesitated before he answered Seto's question. "I'm fine Seto. You protected me from the blast." Mokuba didn't want his brother to worry about him. Seto was going through enough pain by the looks on his face.  
"I want to know where you're hurt, Seto. Can you tell were it hurts the most?"  
"I'm fine Mokuba. Don't worry about me."  
"But Seto, you're bleeding from your head and you could be bleeding from other places that I can't see." Seto just made a complaining whine as Mokuba pulled out his bandana and started to baby the cut on his forehead. He ran his hands through Seto's hair to try and find blood anywhere else on his head. Mokuba let lose a glad sigh has he found no other gashes on Seto's head. He was glad Seto's head wasn't cracked open. Seto fired up on more complains when Mokuba was trying to nurse him. He lifted his arms and tried to hold Mokuba so he could check him for any wounds but he gasped in pain and let his arms fall back to his sides. Damn yamis was all that raced through his head at the moment. Mokuba crawled of Seto to get a look at his brother's position. Seto was lying awkwardly on a huge piece of cement that lifted him off the ground. It looked painful to Mokuba but Seto just tried to sit up and would always seem to fail. Mokuba noticed that the rock had a red substance running down it and there was a lot. It was coming from Seto. Seto called out Mokuba's name. "Mokuba, get over here! Something could be broken or you could have a serious cut that I don't know about. Let me help you!" Seto was getting impatient and there was a small amount of desperate need to see his brother in the tone of his voice. Mokuba felt like butterflies were flying around in his stomach. His brother could be dying and didn't know it.  
"Seto, you're bleeding from your back! You're seriously hurt! I have a few cuts and scrapes but you're injured badly!" Seto had enough of lying on his back, trying to get Mokuba to come to him. He took a few deep breaths and gritted his teeth. He was going to try to push past the pain so he could reach Mokuba. With great effort Seto rolled over and placed his arms underneath him for some support. He lifted up off the rock, his arms shaking like it was the first time he had used them. He got himself into a sitting position and he started to breath really hard. Everything in his body screamed in pain. With great effort he put his feet on the ground and stood up. Mokuba was shocked and practically crying.  
"Seto, lie down! You're going to hurt yourself." Seto ignored his cries and tried to walk towards his brother. His face contorted in pain and his legs started shaking underneath him. Eventually his whole body trembled from the pain and his legs gave out from underneath him. He fell forward with a shocked look in his blue eyes. Mokuba rushed over to try and catch Seto. He caught his elder brother in his arms but was dragged down with Seto. Seto screamed out in anguish causing his body to tremble. He started coughing harshly and blood flew out his mouth. Mokuba screamed his brother's name. He sat himself up and wrapped his arms underneath Seto's armpits to support his brother. He clung to Seto like he was his lifeline. Tears rolled down his cheeks once more and he started to shake. He buried his face in his brother's soft brown hair, trying to block his wails from his brother. He felt his brother's chest rise hard against his arms. Mokuba sat there for a few minutes in silence, listening to his brother's breathing. He finally raised his tear streaked face from Seto's know soaked hair.  
"It's okay Seto. Otogi will find us. He'll save you. Please don't die on me!" Mokuba felt gently hands run along his cheek. He looked down to see Seto's sapphire eyes glancing up at him. A small smile was tugging at the corners of Seto's mouth.  
"Don't cry Mokie." Mokuba gasped as Seto said his old nickname that he use to use when they were in the orphanage. Mokuba sniffled and let a smile creep onto his face. He once again pulled out his bandana and gingerly wiped away the blood on Seto's face. He could now feel that his legs were wet. Probably from Seto's back he thought.  
"Seto, I'm going to check your back. You can hold onto me if it hurts too much. Don't be afraid to squeeze either, okay?" Seto just nodded his head in reply. Mokuba placed his hands under Seto's arms and griped his brother's jacket tightly. He felt Seto's arms wrap around his waist and his head resting against his stomach. Mokuba grunted as he tried to shift Seto onto his stomach. Seto just took in long breaths of air as Mokuba succeeded on rolling him over completely. Mokuba's air got locked in his throat as he looked down upon his brother's back. He trembled slightly but held himself from gagging to appear strong in front of his brother. He gulped and reached down a shaky hand towards small of Seto's back. There was a huge tear in his trench coat and it was soaked in blood. How could Seto not feel that? He must have but just didn't want Mokuba to worry so he said nothing of it. Mokuba peeled Seto's coat back and noticed his shirt was even worse. He also noticed the blood had traveled down to the base of Seto's pants and was still continuing to seep through the material. Mokuba had never seen so much blood before and the thought of it coming from his own brother's back made him feel woozy. Mokuba steadied himself and brought up all his courage to pull Seto's shirt up. He grabbed the wet material and started to pull it loose from being tucked under Seto's pants. He stopped and glanced down at Seto's face. His eyes were closed and he was now sweating and breathing in short rasps. He felt Seto's grip tighten around his waist, pulling on his clothes a bit, which were balled in his fists. Mokuba eyes began to water all over again when he looked at his brother. He closed his eyes tight and pulled the shirt up to Seto's shoulders. He hesitated before he cracked an eye open to peer at Seto's back. His greyish eyes burst open and he began to cry hard, dropping his face back into his brother's hair. His arms wrapped around the upper part of Seto's torso and tried with all his might and pulled Seto close to his face. Mokuba snuggled his face into the crevice of Seto's neck were it meet with the shoulder. The pressure that was applied to this area caused Seto reflexes to act up. His head flopped over on top of Mokuba's and his shoulder arched a bit upwards. Mokuba felt Seto's head land on his with a soft thump and his shoulder shift under his cheek. Seto moaned as Mokuba basically breathed down the back of his neck. Mokuba pulled the shirt back over the tremendous wound so he couldn't see it anymore. If he had to look at it any longer he was going to faint. He went back to holding onto Seto. His crying was causing his breathing to come in short breaths. He pushed his face further into Seto and cried out his brother's name.  
"Seto! (Sob, sob, whimper) Seto! (Sniffle, whimper, sob) Setoooooo!!!" Mokuba didn't hear or notice Strawberry appear at the top of a mound of cement. The shout from Strawberry caused Mokuba to whip his head up causing him slit dizziness.  
"Otogi!! I've found the Kaiba brothers! Them seem to be hurt badly!" Mokuba was so over run by joy that a huge smile spread across his face. He shook Seto slightly to try and get a rise from him. "Seto, they found us! You're saved!! Please hold on!" Seto just moaned slightly as his body slumped against Mokuba's. His eyes fluttered slightly but the look in his eyes was dreadful. Instead of a bright colour of blue they were a dull shade, which made it look like he was drugged. Mokuba just held him closer. Strawberry had slid down the hill and was now sprinting towards them. Otogi and Marik came over the horizon shortly after and bounded down the slope and ran towards Mokuba and Seto. Marik stopped and looked around him.  
"Look at all this blood. Jeez, you Kaiba's seem to be over run by bad luck." Marik placed Noa down onto the ground beside Mokuba, which caused Mokuba to freak out. The kid seemed to be going through a lot of stress but he looked okay none the less. Otogi knelt down beside Mokuba. "Seto will be all right Mokuba, just hand him over to me so I can heal him." He looked at Mokuba keenly. Mokuba loosened his grip on Seto reluctantly and let Otogi take hold of him. Seto groaned as he felt stronger and bigger hands grab his body. He looked over to face whoever had grabbed hold of him. His eyes were half lidded and it looked like it took a lot out of the CEO. Otogi shook his head at the CEO and pulled him closer to himself. Mokuba gasped as he was pulled along with Seto. He then remembered Seto's arms were still wrapped around his waist and his grip was as tight as ever.  
"Otogi, Seto's still holding onto me." Grunted Mokuba. Otogi realized this and tried to pull Seto's hands off of his little brother.  
"It's okay Seto. You can let go of Mokuba. He's fine." Seto shook his head in response and answered Otogi. "No." It came out weak but Otogi heard it. "I need to protect Mokie." His whisper was barely audible but Mokuba had caught it. Mokuba then felt Seto rest his head on his shoulder, tightening his grip around Mokuba even more. Otogi smiled at the resilient CEO and looked at the source of Seto's injury. He pulled Seto's clothes back and heard Mokuba whimper slightly as he shoved his face back into Seto's hair.  
"Eewie!!" Otogi looked up and saw Marik standing there with a disgusted look on his face. Marik noticed he was being watched by Otogi, who had a "what the hell' look plastered on his face. Marik coughed.  
"What? Just look at it. It makes me want to barf! His back looks like it was maimed in that one spot. Just in that one spot. And blood is gushing from that wound. I bet if you opened it a bit you could see his organs."  
"Shut up Marik." With that said, Otogi placed his hands on Seto's back and repeated what he had done for the others. There was a sickening sloshing sound and Seto's gapping wound closed up and disappeared. There was no trace of it left, except for the blood that had spilled from it. Otogi got up on his feet and bent over to haul Seto to his feet. Mokuba came up with Seto as well, for Seto was still clinging to him like a lifeline. Seto couldn't stand on his own two feet. He swayed and fell backwards with Mokuba. Mokuba screamed but felt Seto jolt as something caught him. Strawberry had caught Seto by the arms. He adjusted he hands and placed them under Seto's armpits. He then wrapped his arms around Seto's chest and placed his head on his shoulder. Otogi bent down and pick up Seto's legs. He pulled himself up towards Seto's crotch and placed his hands at the juncture behind the kneecap, wrapping his arms around Seto's thighs. Mokuba just lay on Seto's chest with his brother's arms still wrapped around his waist. This was going to be a fun ride. Mokuba looked at Seto's face and noticed life was crawling back into his brother's eyes. They were now the full colour his eyes were meant to be, sapphire blue. But his brother still appeared to be tired but in a better condition.  
"You can go to sleep Seto." Seto's reply was a yawn and he sleepily closed his eyelids. He fell asleep from the gentle rock the two were creating and to the sound of his brother's voice. Mokuba smiled and enjoyed his little ride, snuggling into his brother's embrace. Marik followed behind Otogi and Strawberry, carrying Noa with him. They decided to go back to Yugi and see if he was all right. Once they were all together again, they would begin their search for the yamis. 


	9. chapter 9

What Once Was is Again  
  
Diclaimer: I do not own any of the characters within Yugioh, minus Strawberry (who you will find out about in my fic). Said characters are also OOC. So live with it it's the way I write! Hehehe.  
  
Warning: there have been minor to extreme changes within the characters of Yugioh, but it is all interesting changes no less and makes for interesting reading I must say.  
  
A chilling wind blew over the ground with a silent howl. People could stile be heard in the background, along with the sound of police sirens. A noise of some rocks tumbling and striking the ground cracked the silence. A shadowy figure rose from the depths of the rubble. It staggered over the rocks clumsily, legs shaking from exhaustion. The body collapsed beside a pile of rocks, breathing heavily from the effort of moving. Light slipped over the pile and slowly crawled over the body. White hair flowed in the slight breeze as the sun caught it with its rays. Bakura squinted his eyes and covered them with his arm. The sun burned him slightly. It had been a while since he had laid his eyes on it. He let his arm droop a bit so he could adjust his eyes to the horrid light. Light was a word he didn't use in his vocabulary very often. The word seemed to burn his very being. It scarred him and he wasn't proud of it. He pulled himself off the ground and supported himself against the rocks. He snarled lightly in his throat. Those soft-minded fools had weakened him. What a disgrace. He came so close to killing those stupid fools but those spirits had to step in and ruin it all. Yami and Malik. He spat at the names of the other two ancient spirits. Bakura paced himself and walked in no general direction. He could hear screaming off in the distance and he delighted in it. At least something came out of all this. Those pathetic humans can only react with fear and cause only more havoc. That's how they deal with occurrences of this magnitude. The sound of a grumble approached Bakura's ears and in the corner of his dark eyes he caught the glimpse of a small sleek figure. 'It seems the pharaoh didn't land to far away.' Thought Bakura. He turned and watched Yami's figure sway and attempt to stand on his two legs. 'The dope must have lost as much of his shadow powers as I.' Yami caught a glimpse of Bakura standing below him. He felt a little light- headed and thought a nap would do him good. But all thoughts of sleep slipped from Yami's mind as he settled his ruby red eyes on Bakura. A small growl formed in his throat.  
"Still breathing tomb robber?" Bakura grumbled in reply and cast his eyes towards the ground.  
"I am a dark spirit after all, Pharaoh. You can't get rid of me that easily and besides, I'm already dead. So there's no point in hoping that I had again passed on. Ryou's still alive somewhere so I can't vanish, unless you wish death upon my Hikari." Yami growled, causing his nose to wrinkle up in disgust.  
"You don't deserve to call Ryou that. You taint the word when it rolls of your filthy tongue." Spat Yami. Bakura summoned up enough energy to laugh coarsely at Yami's spiteful words.  
"You don't scare me, fool. Your words mean nothing to me." Bakura closed his eyes and scrunched up his face in concentration. His ring started to glow as shadow magic coursed through it. Yami's eyes widened as he felt Bakura push his last amount of strength in to the ring. Yami only had enough energy to block the attack for so long then he would be spent. A drop of sweat rolled down his cheek as he stared at the ring. Bakura powered up and was about to assault Yami with all his might when something hard smashed against the back of his skull. He held on to his strength and turned his enraged gaze upon the person who had struck him. The sennen rod fell to the ground with a dull thump. It glittered eerily in the dull light of the sun.  
"Don't forget about me, asshole." Malik stood a small distance behind Bakura with his famous shit-eating grin plastered to his face. He seemed better off then the other two but he was still breathing hard. Malik's dead lilac eyes glistened with a hidden thrill.  
"You'll regret that you stupid retard! You have no item to protect you" Bakura ground these last words through his teeth. He powered up once more and shot the blast of energy towards Malik. The last thing seen before the light took over was a devious grin on Malik's face. The blast hit the ground with a hard force, blowing dirt and chunks of rock into the air. The debris landed around the two remaining yamis. Bakura panted hard as he used up his last ounce of shadow magic. His legs slumped underneath him and landed on his butt causing a small cloud of dust to swirl around him. Laughing filled his ears after a few minutes of silence. The cloud of dust departed to reveal Malik sitting on the ground smiling and chuckling under his breath.  
"I just forced you to use up the rest of your powers. Now you're the defenceless one. You always seemed to have a bad habit of losing you temper so I provoked you into that stupid state. You became a blind fool and attacked me. You're such a dumb ass." Malik laughed even harder has he heard Yami laughing at Bakura as well. Bakura only growled in response. His cheeks got a small tint of blush from his embarrassment. Yami slid down the pile on his back holding his stomach from laughing to hard. He landed sloppily on the ground gasping for air. He slowly stood to his feet and wobbly walked towards Bakura. He looked like he was tipsy from drinking too much. His face was red from laughing and his eyes started to water from the pain. He reached Bakura at a slow pace. He looked down upon the exhausted tomb robber, putting his hand to his mouth trying to suppress his mirth. His legs shook from over use and he collapsed on Bakura. His hands grasped the first thing that reached them. It ended up that he had balled fist full of white hair. He pulled Bakura down with him causing Bakura to wince and yelp from the tug at his scalp. Malik laughed even harder, rolling on his back from the hilarity. Yami just giggled beside Bakura, still holding onto his hair. Bakura grumped as they laughed at the stupidest thing ever.  
"Get off of me and let go of my hair!" Bakura started to push on Yami but failed as he felt something heavier land on the two of them. Malik had jumped into the pile, still laughing and smirking.  
"Dog pile!! Weakest on the bottom!" Bakura gasped as he felt like he was being crushed. Had they finally lost their minds? They seemed to be taking on the traits of their hikari's. What happened to their hatred? Did they lose their minds in the blast?  
"Oh, come on Kura. Stop pouting and acting like there's a stick wedged up your ass. You're beat and there's nothing you can do about it." Malik grinned at him like the Cheshire cat. Yami on the other hand had stopped giggling and was now fingering Bakura's hair.  
"I didn't know your hair was soft Bakura. I always thought that it was coarse and felt like wire. It's kind of silky."  
"Stop touching my hair with your greasy fingers!" Yami glared at Bakura.  
"They are not greasy! For that you should be punished." Yami placed his middle finger in-between Bakura's eyes and started pounding in the same spot really fast. Bakura screamed has dull pain throbbed in his forehead.  
"HAHAHA!!! Chinese torture!" Malik pointed and laughed at Bakura. Bakura wriggled on of his arms out from under Yami and slapped his hand away.  
"What ever happened to hating me? Wanting to tear me apart? Did you go mental in that blast?" Malik and Yami pondered this, blinking their eyes at Bakura.  
"I don't know? Guess it left once we let out our pent up energy. How come you're not trying to rip our heads off? Did you lose your touch already?" Malik looked at Bakura as he laid there in silence. Yami spoke, breaking the tension.  
"Guess his power had built up as well. It must have made his mind demented and turned him against Ryou."  
"Yah, power can do that to you. I felt like going crazy myself." Malik nodded in agreement with Yami. Bakura just lay there not bothering to answer them. He was stuck in his thoughts from the previous event. Now that he looked back on it, it made no sense to him. Everything he did had no meaning to it. It's just happened out of the blue. There was no reason for him to try and kill everyone, now that he thought about. Ryou had never done anything to harm him. He actually wanted to help him but the thought of being loved just scarred Bakura for no reason. He was used to being alone. This kind of environment didn't suit him. These thoughts brought up a new emotion that was hidden from him for ages. His stomach started to churn and he felt sick. He felt like an ass and most of all he felt.... guilty. It was all too new to him and it made his head feel dizzy.  
"Oooooohhhhh." Bakura whimpered into his arm, eventually pulling his arms over his head. Yami and Malik looked at him. He seemed to have figured it out. Before they could say anything to relax Bakura, a bright light caught their eyes. It caused Bakura to stop pouting and bring his head up to turn it to the side with the others. They all looked at Otogi dumbly, who appeared out of thin air. Eventually everyone else appeared along with him, some more alive then others. The positions the yamis where currently in caused everyone's eyes to bulge. Well, only those who were awake anyways. Yugi was the first on to move from the crowd.  
"Yami!!!" Yami heard Yugi call his name and pulled himself out from underneath Malik, causing him to land on Bakura who in turn grunted.  
"Yugi!" Yugi tackled Yami to the ground, squeezing the shit out of him. Yami gasped but smiled down upon his little aibou. He intern rapped his arms around Yugi and hugged him back.  
"Careful Yugi. Yami's been through a lot." They both looked up at Otogi as he smiled at the pair. Yugi nodded and loosened his grip on his darker side.  
"How do you feel Yami?"  
"Sleepy." Yami replied. Yugi just snuggled into Yami's neck smiling. Malik had watched the two reunite and was now searching the crowd for his own hikari. He spotted Marik placing Noa on the ground beside Seto and slip through the others. Malik got of Bakura and trembled as he walked towards his lighter half. With a troubled push he launched himself off the ground and onto his light. He slammed Marik to the ground with his weight and started cooing like a lost puppy over Marik.  
"I'm glad to see you too." Laughed Marik has he grabbed his yami and bear hugged him. Malik just grunted and nestled into Marik.  
"Less talky more sleepy." Marik moaned as he realized his yami was using him as a pillow. He was going to be there for a while. All that was now left was Bakura. Everyone went silent as they stared at the rogue yami. The tension was thick in the air as they stared longer at him. They didn't know what to do with him. Bakura wasn't advancing on them so he must have wasted his energy. Bakura seemed to be oddly afraid. His eyes looked sad if anyone took the time to notice. Otogi walked towards Bakura. He cringed and tried to push himself backwards, away from Otogi.  
"Looks like you know what's going to happen, don't you? You should have thought about it before you acted the way you did. You're a plague upon society Bakura. You have to be dealt with." Bakura appeared to be trembling under Otogi like a scarred little puppy with its tail between its legs. Otogi stopped in front of him, glaring down upon him.  
"It's useless to try and get away from me Bakura. You're spent." Otogi seemed to become cold and his eyes were now shaded from Bakura's view. Everything became tense. The air was thick with it. Everyone's stomachs had butterflies and they tensed up in anticipation. Yami's body tensed and him seemed to worry for Bakura. Malik had also taken apart in the activities. This was saying a lot coming from him cause normally he didn't care what happened to other people. His eyes were locked on Bakura. Otogi raise his hand into the air as if he was going to smite Bakura. He coward under Otogi's gesture like a child would before they got slapped. He cried out one word that made everyone gasp. "Ryou." Every thing seemed to slow down after that. Everyone's heart felt like it was going to rip out of their chests from all the tension. A small motion caught their attention. They turned their heads to see Strawberry dash forward to go aid Bakura. But it wasn't Strawberry it was Ryou. Ryou fell to his yami's side and grasped him up into his arms. He clung to his yami like he was a favourite childhood toy. He tightened his grip as he saw Otogi's expression.  
"Please don't hurt Bakura. He was confused at the time. He didn't mean to do what he did. Everyone makes mistakes!" Otogi just stared at Ryou with a stone cold face. Ryou tightened his grip more causing Bakura to wince from the pressure.  
"His my yami, Otogi. I should have dealt with him before it came to this. I'm sorry but I was afraid. But I realised he was scarred just as much as I was and that he needed attention. Let me deal with him." Otogi's face didn't change nor did he move. He just spoke with cold words.  
"He has to be punished for what he did. You can not stop me from my task." Light appeared at the tip of Otogi's fingers, illuminating his face. Ryou broke out in tears and his voice sounded desperate.  
"Please! He's mine to take care of. I'll watch him, honest. Please, I'll die if he's taken away from me." Ryou broke down in sobs and buried his face in Bakura's hair. He waited to feel Bakura disappear from his grasp but nothing happened. He could still hear Bakura whimpering and could still feel him shaking. Ryou lifted his head up to look at Otogi. Otogi had finally placed his hand down beside his hips and he was now smiling at Ryou.  
"You really love that asshole don't you?"  
"He's my asshole." Answered Ryou. Otogi smirked at Ryou.  
"Fine. I wont get rid of him but I'm doing it only for you. Keep Bakura under your wing at all times or else the consequences of his actions will be great."  
"Yes, I'll watch him 24-7. I'll never let him out of my sight."  
"You don't have to watch him all the time Ryou. We'll help you out when you need it." Otogi patted Bakura on the head. "We'll help you tame him." Ryou grinned a whole-hearted smile. It felt good to be happy. He hadn't smiled like this for a long time. Ryou was practically giggling at the fact that he might not get beat anymore. He put his theory to the test and rubbed his face into Bakura's hair. He waited for Bakura to recoil and punch him in the face. But Bakura just jolted a bit then relaxed in Ryou's arms. Ryou got a giddy feeling in his stomach, like butterflies were flying around. He practically jumped with excitement at the fact that his yami wasn't acting abusive towards his little moves.  
Strawberry, Bakura isn't freaking out. His letting me cuddle with him!   
/ Sorry to ruin your moment Ryou but Bakura's asleep. /  
He's even letting me touch him in his sleep. This is all wonderful and shocking at the same time.   
/ He must be exhausted. / 


	10. chapter 10

What Once Was is Again  
  
Diclaimer: I do not own any of the characters within Yugioh, minus Strawberry (who you will find out about in my fic). Said characters are also OOC. So live with it it's the way I write! Hehehe.  
  
Warning: there have been minor to extreme changes within the characters of Yugioh, but it is all interesting changes no less and makes for interesting reading I must say.  
  
Ryou smiled at Strawberry mentally. He placed his hand on Bakura's chin and tilted his head gently upwards to get a look at his yami's face. He had a peaceful look on his face; his breathing was slow and steady. Ryou pushed Bakura's hair to the side and kissed him on the forehead, again testing his limits. Bakura just moaned and continued to sleep.  
"All right everyone! Stand back! I'm going to fix this situation and turn it back to what it originally looked like. I'll make sure that the normal people forget all of this and go back to their boring everyday lives. I'll make it look like none of this happened." Otogi stood straight and clapped his hands above his head. The people who were still awake watched in awe. A huge ball of light grew from Otogi's hands and ran over everything. In a matter of minutes everything was turned back to normal. It all looked the same as before. There was no more panicked screams or destruction. It was peaceful. Otogi gathered everybody together.  
"Who's all up to going to Kaiba's?" The ones that were awake shouted yah. But Mokuba especially, who was still in his brother's arms. Once more a bright light flashed through the morning, the last one to be seen.  
  
They all landed in the middle of some room in Kaiba's mansion, in a disorderly pile. Everyone was complaining and whining that some one's ass was in their face or some one was stepping on them. Otogi pulled himself out of the pile and landed on the floor beside them.  
"Sorry guys. I'm wasted once again. I can't help it if you all end up in the same pile. Now excuse me while I go have a shower and a nap. I advise you all do the same as well." With that Otogi got up and wandered through the mansion aimlessly, seeing if he got any luck in finding a bathroom. Everyone else finally pulled themselves off of each other and sat on the floor. Ryou looked himself over and looked down at Bakura, who was currently sleeping on the floor. He shook his head and scolded himself for being dirty. Marik finally realised that he was filthy and completely covered with dirt. He screamed causing half of the unconscious people to come to. (What? Where are we?)  
"I'm filthy!" He ran his hands through his sandy blonde hair. Marik's eyes bugged out and he shrieked once more, successfully waking up his yami. Malik snorted has he lifted up his head. "Huh? Wha...what's wrong with you?" He looked at his hikari's state of udder shock and seemed to mumble something under his breath like oh crap. Marik looked at his yami's drowsy features and gritted his teeth together. "My hair is coarse and sandpaper like! It feels gritty!!!" he looked at his yami once more and leaned back as if his yami had some contagious disease.  
"You're cover with dirt and blood crusties! You're grimy and soiled! You and I are taking a bath!" Marik reeled to his feet, dropping a shocked Malik onto the floor. Marik scooped up his yami under his arm and trudged of to find the stairs that lead up to Kaiba's top floor. Bathrooms were always placed on the highest floor in mansions. It was a common fact. Malik bobbed up and down his light's arms. He shook his head in a tired fashion.  
"He can be such a neat freak." Malik looked like he was almost pouting at the way his hikari was caring him.  
"Wait Marik. Help us bath the ones who are unconscious first. Then you can relax in your own hot steaming bath." Ryou had stood up and raced over to grab his arm.  
"Oh, all right. But it's got to be a huge bathtub and I get piece and quiet."  
"It's done."  
"And the finest shampoo and conditioner there is in this house hold."  
"All right, all right."  
"I should also get nice smelling bubbles to go along with it as well and...."  
"Marik!" Ryou glared at him as he stopped his ramblings.  
"Sorry. I tend to ramble on sometimes." Ryou shook his head and turned to face the little group that was still sitting on the floor. Bakura had been snapped out of his peaceful sleep and was now snarling to no end. Everyone had shifted over to leave him some room to blow his steam. Yami was looking around groggily and moaned something under his breath. Joey and Noa had finally come to but Seto remained asleep, still holding onto Mokuba. Ryou wondered if his arms ever got tired. Ryou walked over to his yami and sat down beside him. He tapped Bakura on the nose and made little tisk, tisk sounds. Bakura grumbled under his breath lightly but obeyed Ryou's warnings.  
"How are you two feeling? You guys have been through a lot for me and I wanted to say thank you for being there."  
"Ummm...no problem Ryou. We're buds and friends should help each other out." Joey smiled weakly, placing his hand behind his head. Noa just nodded silently, still exhausted from his previous experience. He never wanted to go through that again. By the looks of it they were able to subdue Bakura. Normally Ryou wouldn't sit beside Bakura without cringing. They must have worked out a few wrinkles.  
"Ryou, isn't your yami evil? Why are you sitting beside him?"  
"He's learned his lesson Joey. I'm just so sorry I wasn't there to stop him from what he did to you. You shouldn't have had to go through that or you Noa. You guys got the worst end out of this ordeal. But considering you guys a dirty, you should go take a bath or shower if you prefer that more." Noa pulled himself up onto a couch that was near by. He placed his butt down and snuggled in a bit. He glanced down at the floor to notice Seto, still out cold and still holding onto Mokuba. He jabbed Seto slightly with his foot.  
"What's wrong with dear old Seto?"  
"He lost a lot of blood, just like you Noa. But know he wont let go of me." Mokuba, finally fed up with being held pulled his arms underneath Seto's arms and pinched his sides. Seto let out a little yelp, loosening his grip on his little brother. Mokuba took the time to slide out of his brother's grasp. Seto whimpered as cold air hit his chest. He threw his arms up into the air trying to find Mokuba but failed. He dropped his arms and tucked them up by his chest, slowly rolling over onto his side, grumping from the lack of warmth.  
"Now that that's over, I'll show you guys to the bathrooms around our house. I'm sure you guys would find one eventually but that could take a while. Can some one help my brother up to his bathroom? He needs one too." Strawberry emerged from Ryou and walked gracefully over to Kaiba.  
"I'll carry him for you."  
"Thanks!" Strawberry grasped Seto around his chest and heaved him up onto his shoulder. A low growl escaped from Seto's lips as he was roughly placed on Strawberry's shoulder.  
"Okay kid, where do we go?" Mokuba helped Noa as the others helped Joey. He led them up the stairs and down a couple of rooms. He opened a door to a full bathroom. It was quite marvellous to look at. It was something you would see in a movie. In other words it was quite fancy.  
"You can bath here Joey. Just make sure you don't break anything. Seto seems to prize his bathrooms for some odd reason. And if you have any problems there's an intercom over by the light switch. I'll send some new clothes to your bathroom later."  
"Sounds good! Joey ran into the bathroom and shut the door. He was going to fully enjoy this washroom. Mokuba lead them down the rest of the hallway to the last door on the floor. He opened the door into an extravagant bedroom that made royalty bow on their knees.  
"This is Noa's room."  
"Wow!!" they said this in unison.  
"It's nothing big. All you need is some taste and lots of money and unfortunately I have both." Noa smirked. Mokuba led them towards a door that was practically concealed in a corner of his room. Mokuba opened it to reveal a set of stairs. He and Noa started to ascend the stairs and came to another door. Mokuba turned the fancy looking handle and stepped into a very classy bathroom. It was just as nice as the one they left Joey in but had a more comfortable feel to it. It was very spacious but not as big as the one below on the other floor. It had Noa's own little zing to it.  
"Now if you guys will leave me be so I can take a relaxing bath, I would be much obliged." They left Noa to his bathroom with a sweet and tangy smell filling the room. They left Noa's room and headed back down the hallway. Mokuba led them to two large oak doors with neatly designed handles. He turned the handles and pushed the door. It shifted slowly under his weight but finally swung open to reveal Seto's room, the master bedroom. It was vast room and just as fancy as the rest they saw. But Seto seemed to have out done himself. It was just too much to describe.  
"I wonder what his bathroom looks like? I beat you its just as big." Malik glanced around with wide eyes, still under his hikari's arm. Marik was so shocked that he dropped his yami, who yelped from surprise. Mokuba walked across the room to another door that had engraved markings on it. He opened it and led them into Seto's bathroom.  
"Ra, Seto is so fircken spoiled! This is like a fantasy bathroom that you can only dream of. I wonder how much money was put into this freaking room alone?" Marik stared at everything with his mouth gapping wide open. Malik placed his hand under Marik's chin and tapped it closed. Yami glanced around the restroom. "This looks elegant enough to house a king in."  
"So who's going to bath in here?" Bakura had walked over to Seto's personal towels and started picking at them.  
"Hey don't touch Seto's stuff! This is Seto's bathroom so it makes sense that he baths in here."  
"But he's still out cold and seems to be talking in his sleep." Yugi walked over to were Seto hung limply and leaned his head in to listen to Seto. Everyone went quiet to hear what he was saying.  
"Home.... so sleepy, (mumble), where...Mokuba? Bath...ugh, no.... don't touch that!!!" Seto's little out burst caused everyone to jump. They heard a small thump as a face cloth dropped to the ground around Bakura's feet. They stared at him silently then shifted to look at Seto then Bakura again.  
"What? Must have been something in his dream." Strawberry glanced down at Seto.  
"No, I think he meant it Bakura. Our "highness" is waking up." Seto lifted his head wearily and glared at Bakura. "I told you not to touch it!" He spat out at Bakura.  
"Well, sorry! It's just a stupid cloth." Mokuba walked over to Seto's face. "It's bath time bro. You need to clean up."  
"Wha...what? Oh, of course. Put me down and leave me alone so I can bath in privacy." Strawberry placed him down and watched him wobbly on his legs. Seto fell back but his arm was caught by Strawberry.  
"Sorry Seto. You're still to weak to bath yourself. We're going to have to help you." Mokuba walked over and stood beside his brother, patting him on the leg.  
"You're going to see me naked?" Seto's face went bright red with embarrassment. He started to violently shake Strawberry's hand off of his arm but only succeeded in making himself tired.  
"What's wrong Kaiba? We're all boys, there's nothing to hide from us. Unless there is something secretive about you that you don't want to reveal." Seto shook his head quickly at Marik.  
"No, I refuse to let you bath me. I'm not a child and it's wrong."  
"Guys shower together all the time at school after gym and they change in front of each other as well. It's okay, we wont look until you're in the tub." Yugi looked at Seto's red face.  
"I still say no! I can take care of my self!"  
"Alright." Strawberry let go of Seto's arm and he fell backwards, landing on the hard floor. Seto rubbed his behind after it had connected with the floor. Mokuba was running the water as Seto had his little hissy fit. Mokuba poured in the bath bubbles and mixed it around. Bubbles eventually rose up in the water and a delightful aroma rose in the air. Seto was still kicking and screaming out cusses at anyone who advanced on him. He whirled his fists at anyone who dared to get in reaching distance. Yet they still persisted on helping him. Mark got kicked in the shin, as he was about to pull of Seto's jacket. Yami got nailed in the jaw and was thrown to the ground, rubbing it furiously. When Malik grabbed Seto's pants, he fell onto his back and flung his legs into the air, sending Malik over his head and onto the floor. His skin made a screeching noise as it collided with the floor. Bakura had enough of his tantrum and pounced on Seto. This ended up in him getting nailed in the thigh, nearly missing his groin. Bakura fell back gasping with a look of insanity plastered on to his face. Ryou snatched him by the shoulders and pulled him away from the older Kaiba. He patted Bakura on the backed and whispered words of comfort in his yami's ears. Strawberry had stepped back from Seto, with his hands in the air to show Seto he had forfeited. Mokuba turned back around to see practically everybody rubbing some place on their body, except those who were smart enough not to go near the full- grown Kaiba. Mokuba sweated dropped and placed his hand behind his hair in an embarrassed fashion.  
"Ummm.... is everyone okay?"  
"Yah." Answered everyone in unison except for the occasional no that came from the yami's.  
"Your brother's throwing a hissy Mokuba. He almost knocked my shin in. he probably gave my yami a skin burn or something."  
"Sorry about that. Seto can be like a child when it comes to what he wants and right know he wants to bath by himself. But he can't because he lost a lot of blood. Seto could really hurt himself if no one's there to help him."  
"Or he could hurt us." Muttered Yami. Everyone nodded in agreement.  
"Excuse me Mokuba but Seto was able to keep us off of him. You need a lot of strength to do that and he succeeded quite well. If he was still tired from all that lose of blood then we would have easily been able to pin him down with out him throwing us off." Yugi looked at Mokuba expectantly.  
"I guess so." Seto stopped pouting and looked at Mokuba.  
"See Mokuba. I can take care of my self."  
"And we didn't take care of Noa or Joey, so Seto should defenetly be able to watch him self."  
"All right Ryou but I'm staying with Seto. You guy's can go clean up now. Thanks for caring." Mokuba smiled at them sweetly. "Oh, here! This is a map of the mansion. It should help you find some more spare bathrooms. Considering you guys don't have any clean clothes you can borrow some of Seto's or Ryou's, Joey's, Noa's and mine!"  
"Thanks Mokuba!" They walked out of Seto's bathroom, leaving him alone to clean up. They walked out of his room and back into the hall. They looked at the map and went of in different directions to bath, except Marik, he ran to a bathroom, dragging his yami behind him. The mansion was eventually filled with warm, moist steam.  
  
Everyone was finally cleaned and relaxing. The Kaiba brother's were outside playing hide and go seek, surprisingly. But it probably had something to do with Seto's mood pills. You could hear them outside every once and a while then their voices would disappear for another two hours. Otogi had found a room somewhere in the house and was napping away the rest of the day, seeing as it was now eleven o'clock. Strawberry was out in the forest somewhere and Joey was wandering around his new home. The hikari's and their yami's had used the map and were back in the living room sitting on the biggest, most comfiest couch. It was positioned just right, facing a splendid window. The room had an air of comfort and sleepiness hanging in it. They were all basking in the warmth of the sun. Fortunately, for the hikaris, their yamis were snoozing. Yugi was sitting at one end of the couch. He had his back leaning against Yami's stomach. His yami was currently sleeping curled around Yugi like a cat. Ryou was in the middle of the couch. He had Bakura's head lying on his lap with his arms sprawled around Ryou's waist. The rest of Bakura's body was stretched out towards Marik, with on leg hanging carelessly of the sofa. Marik's yami looked the best out of the trio. Malik had taken up all of his options. He had his head lying on the armrest of the sofa with his left arm wrapped around Marik and the other flopping off the couch. The top half of his body was lying on Marik's legs, leaving his bottom half trapping Bakura's free leg between his ass and the back of the couch. His left leg was draped over back of the sofa and the other was placed on Bakura's behind.  
  
Authors message: I know I am a strange writer, but I can't be any stranger than the next person so live with it. Please read and review. If flames are sent then I'll just use it as toilet paper. I love to end in strange places, don't I. Have a nice bloody day. 


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